Hey, what was the title of Almodóvar’s last film?
Play the song that uses the basis of “Saturday Night” by Aitana.
Move the music to the living room.
Daniela is coming to dinner, do you think she will like this dish?
How do I look? Is this outfit formal for the event?
Buy my favorite wine.
Order a Cabify from here to Cibeles.
There is nothing strange in these sentences. They are how we speak. The rare thing, until now, was for an assistant to understand them well. Amazon brings Alexa+ to Spain with the promise to change that. After seeing it in a presentation just a few hours ago, the idea is clear: talk to our Echo devices so naturally that we forget that they are machines.
The Alexa+ leap is not only in AI, but in how we speak
What Amazon is trying to sell with Alexa+ It’s pretty easy to understand, at least on paper: stop talking to a speaker as if we were giving orders to a robot. Instead, the idea is that we can express ourselves naturally, change the subject, leave half sentences or say things as we would say them at home, without thinking too much about how to formulate them. That was, in fact, one of the most repeated ideas during the presentation. Amazon summed up part of that ambition with a pretty clear phrase: “We no longer have to learn the Alexa language.”
Said like this, it may sound nuanced, but it is not. Until now, a good part of the experience with this type of assistant involved us adapting to the machine: repeating the activation word, choose each term wellavoid detours and trust that he would not get lost along the way. With Alexa+, at least from what we have seen, the promise is just the opposite. We can ask him to change the music in the room, ask him about a movie, resume a previous conversation or chain several ideas in a row without having to start from scratch each time. That’s where Amazon believes the real leap is.
From there the other great promise of Alexa+ comes into play: that it not only responds, but also does things for us. Amazon presents it as a leap from the assistant that informs the assistant that acts, and that is where functions such as managing the calendar, writing an email or playing music come in according to our tastes. The situation changes when that action leaves the ecosystem itself and fully immerses itself in real-world services, such as reserving a table or ordering a car.
In Spain, this layer of actions starts with several partners already mentioned by Amazon, among them TheFork, Cabify and Tripadvisor,. Translated into day-to-day life, that means that part of the most ambitious usefulness of the assistant will not only be played in how it converses, but in how many services it manages to understand well outside the home. And there, at least for now, the initial photo is still quite limited.
Another thing that Amazon wanted to highlight in the presentation is that Alexa+ not only improves when we talk to it, but also when we give it more context about ourselves. Some of that knowledge can come from our daily activities, from calendar entries or from what you already know from previous interactions, but also from information that we choose to share with you explicitly. The company showed, for example, how documentation can be sent to you by mail so you can incorporate it into your context, such as a school menu. From there, Alexa+ can retrieve that data later and use it in subsequent responses.
That layer becomes even more striking when the camera on some Echo devices comes into play. In the presentation we saw how Alexa+ could “see” and answer questions about what is in front of you, from an outfit to other elements of the environment. There were also scenes in which he crossed personal context with practical suggestions, such as recommending a recipe based on what was at home and adjusting that proposal when remembering that a guest did not like a specific ingredient. Added to this is another strong promise: internet connection, real-time information, integration with music and video beyond Amazon’s own services and a well-worked adaptation to Spanish from Spain, both in accent and in cultural references and everyday situations.
Our first impression, after seeing it in action just a few hours ago, is that the proposal makes sense and that Amazon has found a fairly clear way to explain why Alexa+ wants to distance itself from the usual Alexa. The presentation was solid and left a good feeling, especially due to the naturalness with which the assistant seemed to chain requests, understand the context and move between different tasks. Now, all of this happened in a controlled environment, prepared by the company itself to show the product in its best version. It promises, yes, but the important test will come when it starts to leave that framework and we see how it really performs in real life.
Another important point of the launch is the price, because Amazon has decided to place Alexa+ in a very particular field. During early access it will be free, but after that it will become cost 22.99 euros per month if contracted separately. At the same time, the company has also confirmed that it will be included in the Prime subscription in Spain.
And then there’s the most practical part of all: how to get started. Here Amazon proposes two paths. The first involves purchasing one of the compatible Echo devices, which gives immediate access to the early access program. The second is designed for those who already have one at home: in that case, you have to register on the website that the company has enabled, www.amazon.es/nuevalexaand wait to receive an invitation. Amazon assures that these additions will be made in phases over the coming weeks, so not all users will enter at the same time. It is also worth keeping in mind that not all functions will be available on all devices and that Alexa+ will not reach certain older generations of Echo.
Speaking of devices, the launch does not arrive accompanied of a new batch of Echo speakers in Spain. The explanation given by the company is that Alexa+ debuted earlier in the United States, where it did arrive with a new generation, while here it landed later and with hardware that, according to Amazon, was already prepared to support it. Amazon has highlighted models such as Echo Show 8, Echo Show 11, Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio.
The interesting thing about Alexa+ is not just that Amazon has given it more features or a new layer of artificial intelligence. The interesting thing is that it tries to solve a problem that we have been dealing with for years with this type of devices: that feeling that, in order for them to understand us, we are the ones who have to adapt to them. If Alexa+ manages to turn that around, we will be facing an important change. For now, what we have seen suggests that the company is going in that direction. Now the most difficult thing remains, checking if this naturalness resists that of our homes.
Images | Amazon | Xataka
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