Amazon plans to launch a major AI upgrade to voice assistant Alexa, aiming to enhance its conversational capabilities and ability to process new information, which was originally planned to be completed by the end of this year, but the project has now been postponed to 2025, according to Bloomberg. This delay may stem from problems exposed during the testing phase, such as lengthy and irrelevant answers, AI hallucinations, and compatibility issues with smart home devices. The report has raised concerns about Amazon's competitiveness in the voice assistant market and user experience.
According to Bloomberg, Amazon's voice assistant Alexa originally planned to undergo a large-scale artificial intelligence transformation by the end of this year, but now it looks set to delay until 2025. The upgrade is designed to make Alexa smarter, more powerful, with better conversational capabilities and the ability to handle new things.
The report also details the problems encountered in testing by the AI-enhanced version of Alexa. For example, beta user reports that AI may give lengthy, messy answers that aren't exactly relevant to the original query. Other problems include hallucinations and, shockingly, the inability to continue to work with networked smart devices such as light switches.
At present, Amazon has not officially confirmed any delays, but beta access has been turned off. Users cannot try Alexa with more conversational capabilities in the test environment. Now it seems that users may have to wait until 2025 to use the upgraded version of Alexa.
Amazon's delay in Alexa AI upgrade program could impact the company's competitiveness in the voice assistant market. While the company is still working to improve Alexa's capabilities, delays may disappoint users.
The news of delay in Alexa's AI upgrade has undoubtedly brought challenges to Amazon. Whether it can launch the improved Alexa as scheduled in 2025 and maintain its advantage in fierce market competition remains to be seen. This incident also reminds us that the development of artificial intelligence technology has not been smooth sailing. Before the technology matures, it is crucial to release and fully test it carefully.