In the field of artificial intelligences, we are witnessing a multitude of experiments that aim, in the short term, to revolutionize once again the relationship of millions of people with the tablets and smartphones they use every day. Cortana or Siri are just the best-known examples by many and that, broadly speaking, have brought to today's consumer electronics and to the day-to-day, many of the advances that we have seen in the great works of science fiction. However, the development of these elements not only requires years of research, but also large amounts of money that makes their creation, for now, only available to the largest firms.
Google and Amazon They have also been working on personal assistants for some time who intend to join the race to become the most advanced of all that we can find to date. During the following paragraphs, we will tell you more about Alexa, the platform created by the Internet commerce portal and that aims to complete the line of tablets launched by the company in recent years with which it not only wants to be an intermediary, but also another actor in a sector marked by saturation and fierce competition that forces constant reinvention.
What is it?
Officially presented in 2015, Alexa is an artificial intelligence that originally was present in an additional support called Amazon Echo and that was focused on other fields such as domótica. However, with the launch of the new tablets of the Fire series it is already possible to find it installed as standard together with the software. On the other hand, one of its strengths is the connection with other devices, since currently, the United States is experimenting with its installation in drones and household appliances.
The similarities to Cortana and Siri
Currently, all the attendees have some points in common. In the case of the most powerful, we find the possibility of obtaining weather information, alarm programming or internet search through voice dictation. On the other hand, the way to activate it is also similar in all the devices in which it is present either with an icon on the desktops, or by pressing one of the buttons on the compatible tablets and smartphones, which in this case would be the Fire HD 8 and 10 inches.
The differences
Among the most prominent divergences with respect to its competitors, we find, on the one hand, the existence of Echo, which supposes the existence of a exclusive support for artificial intelligences, and on the other, a series of features such as the possibility of accessing the Amazon catalog just by giving the order to Alexa or, also, the setting the brightness and sound conditions of the devices that work with it. Another strong point is the feedback. When requesting information or obtaining search results, you have two options: Either listen to it with alexa's voice, or view it in text formats.
Lights but also shadows
As stated by portals such as CNET, there is still a lot to do from Amazon to improve the assistant. As of today, it would have a repertoire of some 3.000 different orders and commands However, they would be even more reduced if we take into account that the greatest number of instructions are only understood if we speak English. The language barrier It is one of the challenges that the company must face in order to place its intelligence on the same level as others that we can find, since it has not yet worked on the creation of a variant in Spanish.
Your relationship with Fire OS
How can Alexa facilitate the handling of tablets released by Amazon? As stated in portals like The Verge, with the new updates of the operating system, we would find functions like Echo, which would improve the responsiveness of Alexa after dictation and that among its most striking features, we would find the ability to activate or deactivate the wireless networks or also, manage the different files stored in the Cloud and know some parameters such as the total capacity or the number of items saved. To these, others would be added that we have commented before, such as the playing music and the execution of some applications.
As you have seen, in the field of artificial intelligence, we are seeing important advances that, however, as with Alexa, are also accompanied by limitations that can make it less attractive not only for users, but also for investors and developers. After learning more about another element that aspires to transform technology and that could come from the hand of other advances in fields such as robotics, do you think that Amazon should focus more efforts on making this tool an interesting option outside the Anglo-Saxon sphere? Do you think that at least in the short term, the throne of personal assistants will be occupied only by Google, Microsoft and Apple? You have more related information available about other platforms so that you can learn more about them and give your own opinion.