An Evaluation of Amazon’s Alexa
The original Amazon Alexa was also known simply as Alexa, was first launched in 2013 in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and quickly became the bestselling AI speaker voice assistant with the launch of a product with a great amount of innovation, Amazon opened the door to a whole new way users could interact with voice assistants, control their home and other devices ranging from turning on lights to keeping a track of their daily activities. With more than 100 million devices sold and dominating nearly 70% of U.S smart speaker users, Amazon’s Echo beat rivals like Google and Apple to hold the top spot in the smart speaker market. Alexa was an instant success to Amazon and to the technology World.
The Amazon Alexa is a flawless example of a “Ubiquitous Computing Technology”. Alexa collects data every time it is used and this is very beneficial to Amazon as they can learn more about how users can speak, what questions they ask, their interests, and more. This type of data is hard to obtain and in terms of the ‘home automation industry, Amazon was one of the first companies that we're able to capitalize on this type of data. Every time data was being collected it only made Alexa learn more and become a better AI. Amazon has made it easy for third-party developers and device makers to integrate with Alexa. These early strategic choices by Amazon will amplify the leaps forward in intelligence that Alexa will make in the future. Alexa is able to play music, provide information, deliver news and sports scores, tell you the weather, control your smart home and even allow Prime members to order products from Amazon. Alexa sits in the cloud, expanding the information offered all the time and refining the responses to give you more accurate information. No matter what Alexa device you ask for, all can return sorts of answers.
So far Alexa has gone from the Echo smart speaker to products like Echo Dot, Echo Studio, and Amazon Tap speakers developed by Amazon Lab126.
Integration and how being made by Amazon makes Alexa unique
Alexa has the following unique functions:
1. Home Automation
2. Ordering products through Amazon as it is linked to Amazon directly Via users account making a user directly enter Amazon’s ecosystem
3. Amazon Music
4. Sports
5. Weather
6. Messaging and Calls
7. Weather Reports
8. Business
Pros and Cons of Amazon Alexa
I have evaluated Alexa based on research that I have conducted by interviewing 5 Alexa users. When asked if Alexa was a great AI, all of them had different answers with a common advantage. This was its ease of operation and the integration with Amazon made users enter the ecosystem making it easy for them to access shopping via Amazon, stream non-stop music, home automation; control lights, switches, thermostats, and also helped order Domino’s pizzas and booking Uber services with no costs or subscriptions.
When asked about the disadvantages or the cons, they said it wasn’t portable, had to be lugged on at all times, and was only prohibited to use in one place. They also stated the need to spend more money on smart bulbs, smoke detectors, and cameras to automate your home with Amazon Echo which made it a slightly heavy investment lastly their biggest concern was that their privacy was being violated irrespective of them not being able to do anything about it; it is a compromise they were willing to make they said.
Personally, I feel, that Alexa is a great AI and is a great example of a “Ubiquitous Computing Technology”. It is the perfect smart home assistant and what makes it unique is its relationship with Amazon. However, I feel privacy is a big issue because it is an AI and it might always be listening; to private or confidential information, its link with an amazon account also gives it access to financial information leaving zero privacy and its response to everyone saying Alexa might lead to a false instruction from a stranger or anyone else unwanted. Also, its ability to be used by all age groups is a big concern as it can influence in a very negative way too.
In the future I see Alexa integrated with literally everything; from a phone to a car or from a bulb to a smart robot. As the smart culture is rising day by from a smart refrigerator to a smart car-like Tesla; the way I see it, I can open the car trunk just by saying open my boot while sitting in my living room. Immense possibilities for Amazon to cash on from a business and technological perspective.
Cited Sources
“Amazon Alexa.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Alexa.
Technologies, Prologic. “Pros & Cons of Amazon Alexa/Echo.” Prologic Technologies Blog, 15 Dec. 2021, https://www.prologic-technologies.com/blog/pros-cons-of-amazon-alexa-echo.
Shulevitz, Judith. “Alexa’s Most Dangerous Feature Can’t Be Undone.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 7 Nov. 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/alexa-how-will-you-change-us/570844/.
