Amazon unveils a new and improved Alexa, Alexa+

At an event in NYC on Wednesday, Amazon announced an upgraded Alexa experience — Alexa+ — powered by generative AI technologies. Onstage, Amazon’s devices and services chief Panos Panay called it a “complete re-architecture” of the AI assistant. “[W]hile the vision of Alexa has been ambitious and remains incredibly compelling, until right this moment — right this moment — we have been limited by the technology,” Panay said. “An AI chatbot on its own doesn’t get us to our vision of Alexa.” Amazon says that the new Alexa can answer questions like “How many books have I read this year?,” drawing on info from an Amazon customer’s account. It can notify users when, for example, new tickets for a concert drop, and help with certain tasks like booking a dinner reservation. “The new Alexa knows almost [everything] in your life — your schedule, your smart home, your preferences, the devices you’re using, the people you’re connected [to and] the entertainment you [enjoy],” Panay said. Like o ... Read full article.