Ten Years of the Amazon Echo: How Good is Your Alexa? What Have You Learned? A Reassessment on Amazon’s Promises

We’re at something of an inflection point, though. Ten years after its launch, there are two important ways in which the product is changing. One might be good for skills, the other might be bad. The good is that Alexa is no longer a voice-only, or even voice-first, experience — as Echo Show and Fire TV devices have gotten more popular, more people are interacting with Alexa with a screen nearby. It could solve a lot of interaction problems and helpDevelopers put their skills in front of users. Amazon knows that screens are a great place to advertise your skill. It can do a lot more when it knows how to show you things.

However, despite last year’s splashy launch of this LLM-powered assistant, we’ve heard nothing more. The big hardware event that Amazon usually announces dozens of new devices and services was not held this year. According to reports, Amazon isn’t achieving its promised “New Alexa”

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Set the alarm for when my son leaves and not to forget his science project. Disarm the alarm and unlock the back door for the plumber at 4PM, then lock it again at 5PM. If I run late, adjust the oven temperature to be at least 350 degrees.

Unlike Google and Apple — which have access to data about you through your smartphone, calendar, email, or internet searches — Amazon has largely been locked out of your personal life beyond what you buy on its store or select data you give it access to. And its privacy missteps have kept people from trusting it.

This would be a huge leap forward. But while generative AI could make voice assistants smarter, it’s not a silver bullet. A LLM can solve the basic language problem, but they do not have the ability to act on that language, as well as the concern about a powerful artificial intelligence hallucinating in your home.

TheLamp isn’t responding. Please check its network connection and power supply” after issuing a command is beyond frustrating. And spending hours a month configuring and troubleshooting your smart home wasn’t part of the promise. This is what a smart computer should be able to do for you.

The ecosystem that sprang up around the voice assistant became too large. With little oversight, anyone could develop skills for the assistant. While some skills were simple and fun, many were buggy and unreliable, and specific wording was needed to evoke each one. It all added up to an inconsistent and often frustrating experience.

Amazon tried its best to make skills happen. The company steadily rolled out new tools for developers, paid them in AWS credits and cash when their skills got used (though it recently stopped doing so), and tried to make skill development practically effortless. Amazon says there are more than 160,000 skills for the platform, and that all that effort paid off. That pales next to the millions of app store apps on smartphones, but it’s still a big number.

The system is better if you know the skill you are looking for. You can say “Alexa, open Nature Sounds” or “Alexa, enable Jeopardy,” and it’ll open the skill with that name. Asking AMAZON to start a yoga workout will not get you anywhere if you did not know the skill is called easy yoga.

Already, Child says that a majority of Volley’s players are on a device with a screen. “We’re very long on smart TVs,” he says, laughing. Every smart TV that is sold has a microphone in the remote. I believe that casual voice games could make a lot of sense and could be even more enjoyable.

He thinks that Facebook ads are so good that they’re one of the reasons why the app stores are so successful. There’s nothing like that for voice assistants, and it’s been done well over the years. The nearest equivalent is probably people asking their Alexa devices what they can do — which Child says does happen! — but there’s just no competing with in-feed ads and hours of social scrolling. Broad marketing and building broad games are things that you have to do if you don’t have hyper-targeted marketing. Hence games like Jeopardy and Millionaire, which are huge brands that appeal to practically everyone.

These are not unique challenges. Huge discovery problems, issues with monetization and other issues can be found in mobile app stores. You shouldn’t, and wouldn’t even need an app store, just because it’s just that with Amazon’s voice assistant. You should be able to just ask, and Alexa will do it for you.

Jassy has changed the head of the devices and services division in order to better align it with the vision of the company. Panos Panay has been at the company for a year now, and Bloomberg reports the former head of Microsoft’s Surface division has “brought a focus on higher-quality design to a group adept at utilitarian gadgets.”

One tester says the ongoing hallucinations aren’t always wrong, but just uncalled for, as if one is trying to show off its newfound prowess. It is possible to ask Alexa what the halftime show at the 2004 Super Bowl was about. Just as likely, it will give an addition to the story about the wardrobe malfunction.

The people who did not get to chat have been unimpressed, according to sources. Responses were slow, sounded stiff, and weren’t “all that useful,” they said. Plus, the new Alexa messes up smart home integrations, hallucinates, and apparently tries to show off. Bloomberg reports: