This week, Amazon will launch new Echo hardware designed to supercharge Alexa Plus, the AI-powered upgrade to its voice assistant. The assistant is currently in its Beta phase and is a work in progress.
To fix Alexa, Amazon had to break it apart and rebuild it. The result is a hybrid smart home assistant, personal assistant, and Amazon’s answer to ChatGPT.
Currently, Alexa Plus struggles with smart home control, as it still requires precise commands and lacks the seamless integration users expect.
“The unpredictability of LLMs is a poor fit for smart home control, where reliability and repeatability are crucial.”
— Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Senior Reviewer, Smart Home
Generative AI is expected to enhance smart home accessibility. Alexa Plus allows for more natural language commands, but some basic features are inconsistent.
Users report frustrations with response times, with some requests taking up to 15 seconds. Basic commands sometimes fail or require new phrasing.
Amazon’s new architecture for Alexa Plus aims to improve performance but has led to mixed results in reliability.
Amazon is expected to reveal new hardware that could enhance the integration of voice and visual commands, addressing current shortcomings.
