Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa once took Silicon Valley by storm and became the standard for many products. But in recent years, Alexa has underperformed, suffering layoffs and cost cuts. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology has become the new focus, and Amazon’s rivals Microsoft and Google have launched their own voice assistant products.
To redeem itself, Amazon plans to revamp Alexa with ChatGPT technology to make it smarter, more fun, and more profitable. According to Businessinsider, internal documents reveal that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has an ambitious goal to make Alexa think rather than pull information from a database and that he wants Alexa to be “the world’s best personal assistant He wants Alexa to be “the best personal assistant in the world.
Specifically, Amazon wants to give Alexa more innovative capabilities for entertainment, including more conversational video search, personalized recommendations, and the ability to read stories and news more interactively. For example, if a user wants to find a show similar to Netflix’s Lovers in Paris but less focused on fashion, Alexa can suggest Amazon’s own The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and give reasons for the recommendation. If the user wants more information about the recommended show, Alexa can give a one-sentence summary and play the trailer on a device with a screen, and the user can play the show directly on the TV with voice commands.
Another example is if a user asks “What should I watch tonight?” Alexa will be able to give options based on past search results. The user can further narrow the search by saying “not too romantic” or “Oscar-winning movies. After the user has watched the movie, Alexa can also follow up with user discussion boards, short films, interviews with actors, and other content.
In addition to video search, Amazon also wants Alexa to provide better news summaries and Q&A content. The document says Alexa can “present users with a personalized list of news highlights and help them dive deeper into each story by retrieving relevant news and information.” For example, if a user hears a news story about a growing wolf population and asks how many wolves there are in Washington state, Alexa will be able to give an answer and recommend a podcast about the endangered wolf species.
Amazon also plans to launch a new storytelling feature for home users. In one scenario described in the document, Alexa was able to create a story about “Mittens, the first cat to ever go to the moon,” based on an 8-year-old’s need for a story about “cats and the moon. The first cat to ever go to the moon” bedtime story. If a child is playing with an Olaf toy, the Echo Show device with a screen recognizes it and adds the Disney character to the story. It also makes the stories more interactive, such as involving the child in creating the story or generating concept art on the Echo Show screen, and the document also mentions partnership opportunities with companies like Disney and Lego.
All of this seems to be part of Amazon’s efforts to increase Alexa’s revenue potential. language model as the foundation for Alexa.
“I think this is going to dramatically accelerate our vision of being the best personal assistant in the world,” Jesse said last week, “and I think there’s a big business model behind it.”
