Alexa may get smarter with more APIs rather than more AI

Following ongoing reports that Amazon’s generative AI makeover of Alexa is not going well, it appears Amazon whitethorn instrumentality a much applicable attack to making its astute adjunct much useful. According to Business Insider, Amazon is partnering with respective companies to marque Alexa amended astatine doing things you mightiness privation a integer adjunct to do: including calling an Uber, tackling Ticketmaster for events, booking meal done OpenTable, and handling GrubHub and Instacart for your nutrient delivery.

Now, if this sounds familiar, it's due to the fact that the likes of Uber, OpenTable, GrubHub and others already had Alexa Skills, but apparently, this is thing different. These companies are reportedly being recruited to beryllium portion of the caller Alexa, which Amazon has said volition beryllium a smarter, much susceptible dependable assistant — truthful overmuch much capable, that the institution volition charge a premium for its use.

Amazon wants to marque the caller Alexa susceptible of completing an full task for a idiosyncratic alternatively than handing it disconnected to a 3rd party, arsenic it mostly does with Skills. BI reports that these spouse companies would go the “primary enactment for handling those circumstantial tasks connected the upgraded Alexa." So, for example, erstwhile you inquire Alexa to bid that pizza you got past week from that spot you like, it could perchance nexus into your GrubHub relationship and bid you a pepperoni and pineapple, redeeming you respective minutes of fiddling with your phone.

According to BI, the partnerships aren't final. In fact, an Amazon spokesperson told the work that immoderate merchandise improvement process features ideas that “don’t needfully bespeak what the acquisition volition beryllium erstwhile we rotation it retired for our customers.” 

The attack is an absorbing antidote to the generative-AI hype astir dependable assistants. There’s nary request to reinvent the instrumentality here, conscionable marque the instrumentality better. While the study didn’t see method details, if Amazon is partnering with companies, it whitethorn good beryllium to leverage a overmuch much tried-and-true solution than generative AI: APIs.

Instead of unleashing an LLM-powered adjunct connected a work oregon website and telling it to execute a task for you (a exemplary that companies similar Rabbit and Humane AI person tried with constricted success), Amazon could conscionable usage a smarter, much conversational Alexa to marque the clunky bid and power operation of API calls much seamless. While technically overmuch little ambitious, if it makes for a smoother acquisition ordering your pizza via dependable than with the existent Alexa Skills process, that’s an betterment each round.

The downside is that if Amazon relies connected partnerships to supply this functionality, your section pizza spot whitethorn not beryllium connected that list. (Mine lone conscionable got online ordering, and it's spotty astatine best.) According to BI’s source, Amazon expects to person astir 200 partners by Q3 adjacent year. Depending connected who those partners are, this attack of “let's marque definite this really works” alternatively than “here’s a chatbot that mightiness effort to adhd pinecones to your pizza” feels similar a amended solution.