While there's been much talk surrounding Amazon's generative AI-powered overhaul of its voice assistant, Alexa, and its expected subscription fees, we've heard little from the e-commerce giant about a launch date. New reports indicate it's expected to launch in October and confirm that a subscription will be required.
Also: 5 ways Amazon can make an AI-powered Alexa subscription worth the cost
The new and improved Alexa with gen AI should launch in just over a month, a delayed drop from what was expected earlier this year when reports indicated it would launch in September. It will be a paid alternative voice assistant to the "classic Alexa," which Amazon refers to the currently available free version in internal documents obtained by the Washington Post. The report indicates that a subscription to the new virtual assistant, dubbed "Remarkable Alexa," could cost as much as $10 a month.
By giving Alexa gen AI features, Amazon would give its widely popular artificial intelligence assistant the capacity to generate content instead of repeating answers from its trained commands. Instead of searching for a recipe, for example, Alexa could create one customized to dietary restrictions or use the ingredients in your pantry.
It could also create text, like stories, emails, poems, songs, etc. Kids could ask Alexa to create a story describing their family dog to hear a new bedtime story featuring Fido as the main character. It would be remarkable if you, like me, had exhausted Alexa's story catalog.
Also: Echo Pop vs Echo Dot: Which Alexa smart speaker should you choose?
Along with gen AI capabilities, the new Alexa could hold more natural conversations with you, answer follow-up questions, and use a more human-like voice. In the report, Amazon says, "AI features that help customers curate, summarize, and explore current events was also rated as one of the top customer requests."
Amazon announced that Alexa would receive gen AI capabilities in September 2023 during the company's Devices and Services event, during which it demoed the new voice assistant's features. The announcement came after a year of explosive growth in AI technologies, marked by the release of ChatGPT in late 2022.
Since OpenAI's chatbot became widely available, Microsoft and Google released their own AI chatbots, Copilot and Gemini. Pressure mounted to improve existing virtual assistants, like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, which perform deplorably compared to an AI tool like ChatGPT.
Also: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot?
Apple announced the release of Apple Intelligence in June. A slew of gen AI features are coming to new iPhones, iPads, and Macs, including a revamped Siri complete with a ChatGPT integration. This service is planned to become widely available in 2025. Google is also slowly upgrading the Google Assistant, which is being rebranded as Gemini, with AI, though this also isn't yet widely available.
While it's easy to use the ChatGPT voice feature on my iPhone, it's limited to an app, so I understand the need for an AI-powered virtual assistant. ChatGPT can't control your phone, send messages, call someone, or create shortcuts with different apps, which assistants like Siri and Google can. Unlike Alexa, ChatGPT can't control your smart home, turn off your lights at night, or run automation to turn on a device when a light is on.