Alexa Is Now Claude AI

High tech & Ai world

Amazon is upgrading Alexa by replacing its own AI with anthropics Claude Model,creating a more advanced voice assistant called "Remarkable Alexa".

Transcript

00:00Amazon is making a major change to Alexa, replacing its own AI with Anthropic's AI

00:08model, Claude.

00:09The new remarkable Alexa promises more advanced natural conversations, but it also comes with

00:14a few surprises.

00:16Is this the next big step for smart assistants, or is Amazon taking a gamble with this move?

00:21Let's discuss and find out in today's video.

00:24Alright, so Amazon has been working on this upgraded Alexa.

00:28Internally, they're calling it Remarkable Alexa, or Project Banyan for a while now,

00:32and originally they were using their own AI technology for it.

00:35But apparently, things didn't go so well in the testing phase.

00:38According to Reuters, Amazon's in-house AI was having a lot of trouble responding quickly

00:43to user prompts.

00:44I mean, we're talking about a lag of up to 6 or 7 seconds sometimes.

00:48And in today's fast-paced world, where we're all used to instant responses, think chat

00:53GPT or Google Assistant, that's just not going to cut it.

00:56So Amazon decided to switch gears and use AI models from Anthropic, a San Francisco-based

01:01AI research company that was actually founded by some ex-OpenAI folks.

01:05Anthropic has been making waves with its AI models, especially their Claude model, which

01:09is pretty good at understanding context and maintaining more natural, human-like conversations.

01:14And apparently, it performed way better than Amazon's own AI in those crucial tests.

01:20Amazon has invested a whopping $4 billion in Anthropic, which might explain why they're

01:24leaning on Claude's tech for this new Alexa.

01:26Alright, so let's talk about what this new remarkable Alexa is actually going to do.

01:32Amazon is saying this upgraded version is going to be a lot more advanced than what

01:36we've got right now.

01:37The idea is that you'll be able to have more complex and context-aware conversations with

01:42Alexa.

01:43For example, you might ask it for shopping advice, like what clothes you should pack

01:46for a beach vacation in Bali, or to aggregate news stories based on specific interests.

01:52Also, Alexa will be able to handle more complex, multi-step tasks from a single prompt.

01:57Like, if you say, Alexa, order me a pizza, draft an email to my boss, and set up a reminder

02:01for my dentist appointment, it will all be done.

02:04But here's the catch.

02:06Amazon plans to offer this upgraded Alexa as a paid subscription service.

02:10So unlike the classic Alexa that we've been using for free, the remarkable Alexa is going

02:14to cost somewhere between $5 to $10 a month.

02:17And just to be clear, this won't be part of your Amazon Prime subscription, so it'll

02:20be an extra cost on top of that.

02:23Amazon is betting that these new AI-driven features will be worth the price tag, but

02:27it's definitely a gamble.

02:29I mean, asking people to pay for something that's been free all along is always a tricky

02:33move.

02:34Some folks inside Amazon are even skeptical that customers will go for it, especially

02:38since many are already shelling out $139 a year for Prime.

02:43So why is Amazon doing this now?

02:45Well, it all comes down to money and competition.

02:48Despite Alexa being super popular, Amazon says they've sold over 500 million Alexa-enabled

02:53devices.

02:54The voice assistant division hasn't been making as much money as Amazon would like.

02:58The company's leadership has been pushing hard for Alexa to start generating more revenue,

03:03and they see 2024 as a crucial year to prove Alexa's worth in the market.

03:08The idea here is that by offering a more advanced paid version of Alexa, Amazon can start turning

03:14it from a cost center, basically something that costs more money to maintain than it

03:18brings in, into a revenue-generating machine.

03:22And with around 100 million active Alexa users, if even 10% of them decide to go for the paid

03:28version, that could mean at least $600 million in annual revenue, assuming they go with the

03:33lower end of the price range.

03:36Now, this move to partner with Anthropic is pretty interesting because it marks a bit

03:40of a shift in strategy for Amazon.

03:42Typically, Amazon likes to build its own tech from the ground up, which gives them

03:47full control over the user experience, data collection, and all that good stuff.

03:51But with the rise of other tech giants like Microsoft and Apple partnering up with OpenAI

03:56to integrate ChatGPT into their products, Amazon probably felt the heat and realized

04:01they needed to step up their game to keep up.

04:04And it's not just about keeping up appearances.

04:06The AI race is heating up, and companies are scrambling to offer the most advanced, most

04:11intuitive, and frankly, most human-like AI assistants out there.

04:15The release of ChatGPT last year really shook things up, showing that people want AI that

04:20can handle more natural-flowing conversations, not just simple commands.

04:24So Amazon, like many others, is trying to make sure they're not left behind.

04:28So what else can we expect from this new Alexa?

04:31For starters, it sounds like it's going to be much better at integrating with other

04:35smart home devices and remembering user preferences.

04:39Think of it as your personal butler who knows all your quirks and habits.

04:43Maybe you like your lights dimmed to a certain level at night, or you always want the coffee

04:46maker to start brewing at 7am sharp.

04:49This new Alexa should be able to handle all that seamlessly.

04:52And for those of you with kids, there's talk that the new AI could be tailored to

04:56offer special interactions with children.

04:58It will be able to engage with your kids in a more meaningful way, maybe helping them

05:03with homework, playing educational games, or even telling bedtime stories that are a

05:06little more interactive than what we've seen before.

05:09But some people are a bit worried about what this means for privacy and data collection.

05:13By moving to a more advanced AI model and potentially handling more sensitive information,

05:17there are definitely some concerns about how that data will be used, stored, or potentially shared.

05:23Amazon hasn't gone into detail about how they'll handle these concerns, but it's

05:28definitely something to keep an eye on.

05:30Now, Alexa isn't the only AI project Amazon has been working on.

05:35They've also been doing some interesting stuff with an internal AI assistant called

05:38Amazon Q.

05:40And if you haven't heard much about this one, it's because it's more of an internal

05:44tool that's being used to streamline software development across the company.

05:48But get this.

05:49Amazon Q has reportedly saved the company $260 million and 4,500 developer years.

05:56How did it do that?

05:57Well, by automating a lot of the repetitive processes that normally take developers a

06:01ton of time.

06:02For example, something like upgrading a system to a new version of Java used to take 50 development

06:08days.

06:09Now it takes just a few hours.

06:10That's a huge boost in productivity and efficiency, freeing up developers to work

06:14on more complex, creative tasks.

06:16And if that wasn't enough, Amazon is also making moves in AI robotics.

06:21They recently hired the founders of a robotics startup called Covariant, which is working

06:25on some pretty advanced stuff like robotic arms that can perform common warehouse tasks.

06:31The cool part here is that Covariant is developing what they call a large language model for

06:36robots.

06:37Essentially, they're teaching robots how to understand and execute commands in a way

06:41that's more intuitive and less mechanical.

06:45Amazon's been bringing in some serious brainpower to help push this forward, including the founders

06:50of Covariant, who are now part of the Amazon team, along with about a quarter of Covariant's

06:55employees.

06:56They're integrating this tech into Amazon's existing robot fleet, which should make their

07:01warehouse operations even more efficient.

07:04So it's clear that Amazon is doubling down on AI across the board.

07:09From improving Alexa with Anthropic's Clawed AI, to enhancing their internal processes

07:14with Amazon Q, and even stepping up their robotics game, it's all about leveraging

07:19AI to make their services smarter, faster, and more integrated.

07:24But it also means that we, as consumers, are going to see more AI in our everyday lives,

07:30whether that's through smarter voice assistants, more automated homes, or even just better,

07:35faster services from companies like Amazon.

07:37It's an exciting time for tech, but it's also a time to stay informed and aware of

07:41how these technologies are developing and what they mean for our privacy, our jobs,

07:47and our daily routines.

07:48So what do you guys think?

07:49Would you be willing to pay extra for a more advanced version of Alexa?

07:53Or do you think Amazon should just keep it free and find other ways to monetize it?

07:58Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to like and subscribe for

08:01more AI and tech updates.

08:04Thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you in the next one.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended