Amazon to offer subscriptions for smarter Alexa

[Axtremus]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/27/amazon-ai-alexa-new-subscription/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/26/amazon-ai-alexa-launch-subscription-election/

... Amazon is planning to sell a paid subscription for an artificial intelligence-revamped version of Alexa that could cost as much as $10 a month.

> Among features of the subscription Alexa, expected in October, are recipe suggestions based on your family’s dietary restrictions and AI summaries of the news. ...

More discussion in the first article on what most people use (or not use) AI for, and whether people will be willing to shell out for AI subscriptions.

[ShiroKuro]

Hmmm have they figured out how to keep it from hallucinating? Because I think people would be pretty upset if they’re paying $10 a month for garbage information…

[CHAS]

We use it to have a grocery list. Bob uses it for music I can't stand. If he is cooking I ignore it. Cooks are harder to find than partners.

[DougG]

I have a niece named Alexa. I can call her for free whenever I want.

I am generally trying to avoid signing up for any subscriptions of any sort. The general business model seems to be hoping that people sign up and forget about it and pay for it for way longer than they should. A couple things I’ve signed up for recently, I just pay for a year and cancel the next day, which allows the service to continue till the end of the year. Auto-renewals piss me off.

[CHAS]

@DougG
After problems stopping a subscription I have started to find out how to stop the subscription before beginning it.
A gym in Tucson required a written notice to quit. They know people hate to write those.

[AdagioM]

@DougG That’s smart. I paid for Starz for way longer than I should have, and it renews in 6 month increments. I should have canceled the next day.

I have some free things (through credit card) that end after a year, but they’re month to month. I’ve started putting reminders in my calendar to cancel at 11 months.

[Jodi]

My son uses the paid conversational version of chat gpt, and it’s amazingly useful. This is the future.

[wtg]

Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28
Amazon is killing a privacy feature to bolster Alexa+, the new subscription assistant.

Since Amazon announced plans for a generative AI version of Alexa, we were concerned about user privacy. With Alexa+ rolling out to Amazon Echo devices in the coming weeks, we’re getting a clearer view of the privacy concessions people will have to make to maximize usage of the AI voice assistant and avoid bricking functionality of already-purchased devices.

In an email sent to customers today, Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. Amazon apparently sent the email to users with “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” enabled on their Echo. Starting on March 28, recordings of every command spoken to the Alexa living in Echo speakers and smart displays will automatically be sent to Amazon and processed in the cloud.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28/

[CHAS]

Alexa please change presidents.