Amazon Reportedly Developing A Commercial Version Of Alexa

Right now Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant software seems to be largely consumer-focused where it has ended up in speakers like the Echo, and where it is also expected to end up in more smartphones. However if the rumors have it right, it seems that a commercial version of Alexa designed for businesses could be in the works.

This is according to a report from The Information (paywall; via Engadget) where the publication claims that a commercial version of Alexa is being developed where it could potentially be used for customer service purposes. This is where instead of fielding questions and requests to order a pizza or an Uber, this version of Alexa is being designed to answer phone calls or even text messages.

At the moment the majority of customer service either involves a chatbot or a human, but presumably by using something like Alexa, it could provide a more interactive experience. This new software is apparently codenamed “Lily” and is expected to be officially announced in the middle of March.

Of course this won’t completely replace the need for humans as there are some instances in customer service where a human touch is needed, but if you’d rather not typing out your inquiries to a chatbot and you’d rather chat with “someone”, then this might be worth looking forward to, but take it with a grain of salt and hopefully we’ll have more details on how it will work come mid-March.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General, Rumors
Tags: AI (Artificial Intelligence), Alexa, Amazon