Amazon.com Inc. took to the stage during its Fall Devices Event today to reveal a number of new Echo devices and announced it will soon power its virtual assistant Alexa with a generative artificial intelligence model, giving it a whole new personality and the ability to hold conversations.

New advancements in AI have given them conversational capabilities as large language models, as popularized by OpenAI LP’s ChatGPT. Today, Amazon shared a preview of what will become an even more conversational Alexa that will be powered by the company’s own model that the company said it optimized for voice interactions and based on numerous conversations.

Alexa already behaves as a voice-activated assistant able to understand human speech, but soon on Echo devices customers already own the voice assistant will be getting a much bigger personality. Speaking to Alexa will feel much more natural and with generative AI it will be able to reason, infer intent and handle complex requests.

Previously, Alexa only acted as a sort of go-between between customers and products, acting as a sort of concierge that automated actions in apps by allowing them to navigate to make orders, turn on lights in their house or provide other such tasks. With this upgrade, Alexa evolves into something more like a companion that’s capable of holding conversations, maintaining context, pulling information from the web in real time about the news, entertainment or even writing poetry on request.

The new Alexa can still automate things, such as turning on lights or other actions, but now it’s much easier to use it to program sequences of actions. For example, say there is a routine that you want to happen during Friday evenings.

You could ask the assistant, “Alexa, every Friday at 9 p.m. dim the lights, make an announcement that it’s movie time, turn on the porch light and turn on the TV.” Alexa will then automatically program the series of actions to take place every Friday.

For children, Amazon also previewed Explore with Alexa, which will also use generative AI. This new feature will allow children to ask their devices questions about animals and nature and Alexa will answer with fact sand trivia from trusted sources. And when children ask for jokes or animal sounds, the AI will encourage them to explore the topic in an educational manner.

Currently, Alexa gives clinical responses that sound like they’re from an encyclopedia or dictionary when asked for information on animals such as orca whales or aardvarks. But with the power of generative AI, Alexa will have a personality that can give profound and interesting answers such as, “Orca whales have long, sleek bodies that travel through the ocean like submarines.”

Amazon said that customers in the U.S. will be able to experience these news capabilities soon on Echo devices they already known through a free preview. The company added that it intends to continue to develop and add more features as part of that preview as it rolls out.

Echo Show 8: Brings video calls to you along with adaptive content

Amazon redesigned the Echo Show 8 with a centered camera and a more minimalistic design to make it better for video calls.

It also features custom-build spatial audio processing technology that can sense the acoustics of the room so that it can adjust playback. For its microphone, it can cut out background noise even better than before, making video calls even quieter than before.

The company also previewed a new feature called adaptive content. Using computer vision, the Echo Show can adjust what’s displayed on the screen based on the proximity of the user. When the user is far away from the device it will just display basic information such as news headlines or a large clock — that’s easier to view from a distance. However, upon approaching the screen can transition to more detailed information with content designed to interacted with.

All of this can be customized by the user on the device so that as a user moves about the house the Echo Show will always have what they want on the screen, whether they are near or far from the screen.

Echo Show has a price tag of $149.99 with pre-orders starting today and it ships in October.

Fire TV upgrades Stick and generative AI search with Alexa

The second generation of Fire TV Stick 4K and Stick 4K Max bring updates to the hardware with 4K including Wi-Fi 6 support and 30% faster speeds for 4K Ultra High-Definition streaming.

The “Stick” works by plugging into the TV’s HDMI port and allows users to stream content from services such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ and Amazon Prime. It can also be used to access music, photos and games. It is an Android-based device that combines Alexa’s voice recognition and a remote control.

Fire TV Stick 4K Max features support for Wi-Fi 6E, with nearly three times the bandwidth, and offers Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+ and immersive Dolby Atmos audio. The 4K Max can also turn any smart TV into a “smart display” by replacing the blank screen with useful information like a family calendar, local weather forecast or reminders when it’s not streaming. It can also turn the TV into a décor piece with artwork pieces in rotation from artists around the world.

The Fire TV 4K can be pre-ordered for $49.99 and the 4K Max for $59.99.

Fire TV is also getting the generative AI upgrade with search, which will allow users to find content using Alexa in a conversational way. Users need only speak up and ask naturally, like speaking to a friend. Unlike before when trying to search was a bit more stilted and required trying to pare down between genres or specific movies names.

People will also soon be able to create AI-generated art on their Fire TV devices with just their voices. Amazon said they just need to tell Alexa what they want as a prompt and it will whip something unique up for them to display on their screen for any Fire TV with the Ambient Experience by the end of this year.

A new “Continue Watching” featured row is also being added to the Fire TV interface that combines all recently watched content across all streaming providers in one place. This way users don’t need to dive into a specific streaming app in order to discover what they were watching in order to rediscover their place.

Both the new search experience and “Continue Watching” will launch in the U.S. as part of a software update later this year.

Next generation Echo Frames with Alexa

Finally, Amazon announced its next generation of Echo Frames, the company’s smart glasses that combine high-end fashion with Alexa’s artificial intelligence with seven new styles – with two designs from Carrera Eyewear.

The new glasses have enhanced speech processing and better noise isolation that will allow users to activate Alexa even in loud conditions. The frames are 15% thinner and last six hours on a charge, even when used for continuous playback or talk time – up to 40% more playback time and 80% more talk time than the previous generation.

“Choosing the right eyewear is about so much more than just finding a pair of glasses to help with vision correction—it’s a reflection of your unique personality and style,” said Jean Wang, director of smart eyewear at Amazon.

The glasses include features such as starting a playlist with a double-press button and multi-point pairing, which allows them to be paired with multiple devices at the same time. Simultaneous pairing allows users to connect two audio sources and switch between them without needing to change the settings, such as taking a video call on a laptop and then switch to music on the phone when leaving the house.

The glasses also allow Alexa to easily locate lost or misplaced glasses. Simply ask, “Alexa, find my smart glasses,” to another Echo device or in the Alexa app and it will say the glasses’ last known location.

The new Echo Frames start at $269.99 and Carrera Smart Glasses with Alexa start at $389.99. Pre-orders have not been announced yet, but customers can sign up to be notified.

Photos: Amazon.com