During Amazon’s recent earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy revealed that the company is working towards making Alexa “the world’s best personal assistant”. This announcement was followed by a report that Amazon is planning to integrate ChatGPT-like AI chatbot technology into Alexa to make it more conversational and proactive.
Amazon’s Language Model is called Alexa Teacher Model
According to a Business Insider report, Amazon is developing a larger and more capable Alexa Teacher Model, which is an indigenously developed Large Language Model (LLM). The company aims to make Alexa more conversational and proactive by incorporating the new AI system that will power a more capable and powerful Alexa.
Alexa’s Teacher model has been in use for several years, and Amazon is now developing more generalised and capable LLMs to further enhance Alexa’s capabilities. Amazon is following in the footsteps of Google, which also uses its own language models for Google Assistant, while Microsoft Bing relies on OpenAI’s models.
Making Alexa More Conversational
According to the report, Amazon wants Alexa to be able to “think” instead of just “fetching from a database”. One section of the document suggests that the new AI system will help Alexa make media recommendations, deliver news, and storytelling more conversational.
The report cites an example in which a user asks, “Alexa, find that HBO or Netflix show where rich people go on vacation to Sicily or Hawaii.” Alexa figures out that the show is ‘The White Lotus’ and responds with the name of the cast if asked.
In another example related to FireTV, when a user asks Alexa about the HBO subscription price after the trial, Alexa tells the price and even asks if the user wants to subscribe through Amazon’s Prime Video Channels.
Looking Forward
Amazon’s plan to integrate ChatGPT-like technology into Alexa represents a significant advancement in AI-powered voice assistants. By using more capable LLMs, Alexa is expected to become more conversational and proactive in providing assistance to users. This technology is expected to provide Alexa with an edge over competitors like Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.
