Amazon has officially introduced its much-anticipated generative AI version of Alexa, designed to streamline interactions with your smart home and provide information effortlessly.

The upgraded Alexa Plus will feature new functionalities that include performing tasks on your behalf. You can request it to order groceries or send invitations for events. Additionally, Alexa will remember personal preferences, such as your dietary choices and favorite movies.

Alexa Plus will also be able to initiate conversations without you needing to say its wake word, which remains as “Alexa.” The new version comes with visual capabilities, allowing it to capture and analyze images. During demonstrations, Alexa showcased its ability to inform users about concert tickets and local businesses, utilizing Yelp for references and assisting in making dinner reservations. Moreover, it can read study materials and quiz you on the content, as well as help in planning trips and organizing itineraries.

As in the past, controlling smart home devices remains a core feature, including managing cameras and lighting. However, Amazon emphasizes that Alexa Plus can also create routines for you. Furthermore, when it comes to music, you can request songs based on general descriptions, and even ask Alexa to jump to specific scenes in a movie—though this feature may require a few attempts.

The enhancements showcased by Amazon clearly surpass the capabilities of the previous Alexa version. In one demonstration, Amazon’s SVP of Devices and Services, Panos Panay, asked Alexa about recent dog walks, and it accurately referred to smart home cameras for confirmation.

Mara Segal, the director of Alexa, illustrated how users can share documents, including handwritten notes, recipes, emails, and images, with Alexa for future reference. For example, she requested Alexa to read a housing association document and evaluate its regulations regarding solar panels, and also queried about a SXSW event schedule.

Segal further demonstrated how Alexa Plus could take proactive actions when prompted, such as adding calendar reminders based on details from a kids’ soccer schedule, all conveyed in casual and conversational language.

Amazon initially revealed plans to enhance Alexa with AI in September 2023, promising improvements in understanding context and automating tasks—all you had to do was ask. However, reports by the following June indicated that challenges persisted, particularly as employees voiced doubt about the viability of this new Alexa version amidst an industry-wide push for AI upgrades.

During this period, Amazon’s Devices team underwent significant leadership changes, with Panos Panay taking over from Dave Limp, who previously led the team.

With the launch of AI-enhanced Alexa, Amazon is now entering a vastly different landscape compared to when the original Alexa was introduced in 2014. The competition is fierce, with AI-driven digital assistants like Google Gemini, the pioneering ChatGPT, and the reportedly struggling upgraded Siri from Apple. However, many of these chatbots are not yet available on smart speakers, providing Amazon with a unique opportunity to rapidly deliver AI chatbot capabilities to a broader audience. The real test now lies in the successful rollout of this innovative technology.