Alexa and Other Such Devices

Mike

Mike

Well-known Member
Location
London
I don't have any of these devices, never really
wanted one, they are all around me, on my
phone computer and smart TV, but they are
not used, I know that some of you do have at
least one, I know of one person, who has one
in every room, kitchen, lounge and bedroom,
too much I believe.

I heard lots of stories about them in the beginning,
about them recording everything said, to somewhere
that the designers and makers can access for study
and to sell to advertisers, now I don't know if that is
true, but it might be.

I have heard that there is no "Off Switch", is this true?

Mike.
 
Devices like Alexa are designed to listen for a specific wake word (e.g., “Alexa,” “Echo,” or “Computer”). They record and process audio only after hearing the wake word. They are always in a listening mode, waiting for that trigger.

When you interact with Alexa, your voice commands are sent to Amazon’s cloud servers for processing. While Amazon claims this data is used to improve services, so be aware that your interactions are stored and analyzed.

You’re correct that there’s no physical switch to completely disable Alexa. You can mute the microphone manually or adjust privacy settings in the app to limit data collection.

Many users find voice assistants convenient for tasks like setting reminders, playing music, or controlling smart devices. But, it is important
to weigh this convenience against privacy considerations.
 
When Mizmo started the Thinking about getting Alexa thread, I had to Google Alexa, just shows you how out of touch some of us are. I read that Alexa is Amazon's AI voice. Alexa lives in the cloud and is happy to help anywhere there's internet access and a device that can connect to Alexa. Making Alexa part of your day is as simple as asking a question. Alexa can play your favourite song, read the latest headlines, dim the lights in your living room, and more.

The reason that I have never used credit or debit cards is because cash is anonymous, you can't trace me, therefore I won't have any sort of profile that you can amass and sell, so the thought of some computer in the sky keeping tabs on my every move, freaks me out beyond belief. Good luck with Alexa.
 
Yes there is an off switch...

I have 4 smart devices.. Amazon echo in the livingroom.. Google Home Hub in the kitchen and another in the office room right here on my desk... and I also have Hive which controls my heating, and lighting...

I have become so used to asking them questions.. that even in the car if something pops into my head that I need an answer to, I find myself going to ask .. but I don't have anything in the car...altho'I'm told there is an Alexa for the car.. and of course there is Siri on everyone's smart phones...
 
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hollydolly said:
Yes there is an off switch...

I have 4 smart devices.. Amazon echo in the livingroom.. Google Home Hub in the kitchen and another in the office room right here on my desk... and I also have Hive which controls my heating, and lighting...

I have become so used to asking them questions.. that even in the car if something pops into my head that I ned an aswer to I find myself going to ask .. but I don't have anything in the car...altho'I'm told there is an Alexa for the car.. and of course there is Siri on everyone's smart phones...
Click to expand...
What an enlightening post, truly. Having just looked up those devices and seen a few remarks about their uses on various forums, my ignorance knows no bounds.
 
jlhog said:
I have no intention of owning one of these products. I am capable of doing anything it can do.
Click to expand...
can you turn you light on at night to make it look like there's someone there , to prevent a burglary, when you're thousands of miles away from home...?... Can you tell me in 3 seconds what is the Capital of any country that you might think of.... ,... what about the most diabolical maths question ?

Can you turn the heating on at home when there's a thick frost ...and you're 50 miles away making your way home ?
 
I live in a retirement community. Last year they gave us all Google Echo, a slimmed down version of Alexa. Many residents refused them. I plugged mine in once, listened to some music and then unplugged it (have not pugged it back in yet). Some residents have embraced the device, and some even have their own Alexa device as well.

People say they set it up in a centralized location of their apartment or cottage, so that they can call out to it from anywhere. At least one resident has fallen and could not get up; he called out to Google to call Security (who responds to all emergencies) to come and help him out. But note that we also have individual emergency call buttons that we are asked to keep on us at all times, plus all the bathrooms have emergency call buttons located near the shower at floor level. So to each his or her own!
 
hollydolly said:
can you turn you light on at night to make it look like there's someone there , to prevent a burglary, when you're thousands of miles away from home...?... Can you tell me in 3 seconds what is the Capital of any country that you might think of.... ,... what about the most diabolical maths question ?

Can you turn the heating on at home when there's a thick frost ...and you're 50 miles away making your way home ?
Click to expand...
I have lights on timers for this, I don't care what the capitol is of any other country or state, I can balance my check book. That's all the math I need to know. My house has a programable thermostat that "I" programed. It is always the perfect temp.
 
jlhog said:
I have lights on timers for this, I don't care what the capitol is of any other country or state, I can balance my check book. That's all the math I need to know. My house has a programable thermostat that "I" programed. It is always the perfect temp.
Click to expand...
lol..sorry but really I;m not laughin AT you.. I'm laughing that this happens in every generation, where people say they don't need the latest technology... they've lived their lives happily without it...UNTIL they try it...
 
hollydolly said:
lol..sorry but really I;m not laughin AT you.. I'm laughing that this happens in every generation, where people say they don't need the latest technology... they've lived their lives happily without it...UNTIL they try it...
Click to expand...
I love technology. Just not these products. I have been to peoples houses that have them and still not impressed. If I want to listen to music I can get my fat ass up off the chair and turn it on. I can Google answers to my questions from any of my 3 computers or cell phone. I just don't see an advantage to having one. Some people like them, others don't.... I am not knocking you either Hollydolly, if you like it, by all means enjoy it.
 
hollydolly said:
Yes there is an off switch...

I have 4 smart devices.. Amazon echo in the livingroom.. Google Home Hub in the kitchen and another in the office room right here on my desk... and I also have Hive which controls my heating, and lighting...

I have become so used to asking them questions.. that even in the car if something pops into my head that I need an answer to, I find myself going to ask .. but I don't have anything in the car...altho'I'm told there is an Alexa for the car.. and of course there is Siri on everyone's smart phones...
Click to expand...
We have Alexa devices in three rooms, and have one connected to our Ring door camera. Sometimes we play some music or set a timer on Alexa, and I have a start my day routine set up. It gives me news headlines, weather and traffic information. I don't however have it linked to any purchasing, payments, or phone calls. Started out as a novelty, but it is at best moderately useful.
 
TennVet said:
We have Alexa devices in three rooms, and have one connected to our Ring door camera. Sometimes we play some music or set a timer on Alexa, and I have a start my day routine set up. It gives me news headlines, weather and traffic information. I don't however have it linked to any purchasing, payments, or phone calls. Started out as a novelty, but it is at best moderately useful.
Click to expand...
I forgot about my Ring doorbell which I have as well (y)
 
This just announced ...in my AI news...

TECH

Amazon plans to give Alexa an AI overhaul — and a monthly subscription price​


Amazon is upgrading its decade-old Alexa voice assistant with generative artificial intelligence and plans to charge a monthly subscription fee to offset the cost of the technology, according to people with knowledge of Amazon’s plans.
The Seattle-based tech and retail giant will launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year, potentially positioning it to better compete with new generative AI-powered chatbots from companies including Google and OpenAI, according to two sources familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. Amazon’s subscription for Alexa will not be included in the $139-per-year Prime offering, and Amazon has not yet nailed down the price point, one source said.

Amazon declined to comment on its plans for Alexa.
While Amazon wowed consumers with Alexa’s voice-driven tasks in 2014, its capabilities could seem old-fashioned amid recent leaps in artificial intelligence. Last week, OpenAI announced GPT-4o, with the capability for two-way conversations that can go significantly deeper than Alexa. For example, it can translate conversations into different languages in real time. Google launched a similar generative-AI-powered voice feature for Gemini.
Business Insider first reported on Amazon’s plans to revamp Alexa and launch a new paid subscription plan in 2024. Amazon’s former SVP of devices and services David Limp told The Verge in September that the company was considering charging for a more powerful version of Alexa.
Some interpreted last week’s announcements as a threat to Alexa and Siri, Apple’s voice assistant feature for iPhones. NYU professor Scott Galloway called the updates the “Alexa and Siri killers” on his recent podcast. Many people use Alexa and Siri for basic tasks, such as setting timers or alarms and announcing the weather.
The development of new AI chatbots in recent months has increased the pressure internally on a division that was once seen as a darling of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to the sources — but has been subject to strict profit imperatives since his departure.

Three former employees pointed to Bezos’ early obsession with Alexa, describing it as his passion project. Attention from Bezos resulted in more dollars and less pressure to make a return on those funds immediately.
That changed when Andy Jassy took over as CEO in 2021, according to three sources. Jassy was charged with rightsizing Amazon’s business during the pandemic, and Alexa became less of a priority internally, they said. Jassy has been privately underwhelmed with what modern-day Alexa is capable of, according to one person. The Alexa team worried they had invented an expensive alarm clock, weather machine and way to play Spotify music, one source said.
For instance, Jassy, an avid sports fan, asked the voice assistant the live score of a recent game, according to a person in the room, and was openly frustrated that Alexa didn’t know an answer that was so easy to find online.
When reached for comment, Amazon pointed to the company’s annual shareholder letter released last month. In it, Jassy mentioned that the company was building a “substantial number of GenAI applications across every Amazon consumer business,” adding that that included “an even more intelligent and capable Alexa.”
The team is now tasked with turning Alexa into a relevant device that holds up amid the new AI competition, and one that justifies the resources and headcount Amazon has dedicated to it. It has undergone a massive reorganization, with much of the team shifting to the artificial general intelligence, or AGI, team, according to the three sources. Others pointed to bloat within Alexa, a team of thousands of employees.
As of 2023, Amazon said it had sold more than 500 million Alexa-enabled devices, giving the company a foothold with consumers.

Alexa, were you too early?​

Apple, Amazon and Google were early movers with their voice assistants, which did employ AI. But the current wave of advanced generative AI enables much more creative, human-sounding interactions. Apple is expected to unveil a more conversational Siri at its annual developers conference in June, according to The New York Times.
Those who worked on the Alexa team describe it as a great idea that may have been too early, and that it’s going to be hard to turn the ship around.
There’s also the challenge of finding AI engineering talent, as OpenAI, Microsoft and Google recruit from the same pool of academics and tech talent. Plus, generative AI workloads are expensive thanks to the hardware and computing power required. One source estimated the cost of using generative AI in Alexa at 2 cents per query, and said a $20 price point was floated internally. Another suggested it would need to be in a single-digit dollar amount, which would undercut other subscription offerings. OpenAI’s ChatGPT charges $20 per month for its advanced models.
Still, they point to Alexa’s installed user base, with devices in hundreds of millions of homes, as an opportunity. Those who worked on Alexa say the fact that it’s already in people’s living rooms and kitchens makes the stakes higher, and mistakes more costly if Alexa doesn’t understand a command or provides unreliable information.
Amazon has been battling a perception that it’s behind in artificial intelligence. While it offers multiple AI models on Amazon Web Services, it does not have a leading large language model to unseat OpenAI, Google or Meta. Amazon spent $2.75 billion backing AI startup Anthropic, its largest venture investment in the company’s three-decade history. Google also has an Anthropic investment and partnership.
Amazon will use its own large language model, Titan, in the Alexa upgrade, according to a source.
Bezos is among those who have voiced concern that Amazon is behind in AI, according to two sources familiar with him. Bezos is still “very involved” in Amazon’s AI efforts, CNBC reported last week, and has been sending Amazon executives emails wondering why certain AI startups are picking other cloud providers over AWS.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/22/ama...n-ai-overhaul-monthly-subscription-price.html
 
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