Voice assistant software like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana work by responding to a user’s question. This means that until prompted, they will remain quiet in the background. However for Amazon’s Alexa, that could change as it could be that one day, Alexa may very well start conversations with users instead.
According to a report from The Information (paywall; via Digital Trends), it seems that Amazon has been investing heavily into Alexa’s development and that one of the features that is allegedly in the works is push notifications. This means that whenever you receive a push notification from an app, Alexa could read it out to you.
For example if the food in your oven is done, Alexa could prompt you via voice. Or if your home’s security camera detects movement or someone at the door, Alexa could alert you without you having to glance at your phone. You could then, in theory, respond in kind by asking for more information, or asking Alexa to unlock your door, and so on.
Amazon’s Alexa is already open to third-party developers and hardware makers, although this level of integration and sophistication has yet to be introduced. No word on when we might see this rumored feature be put into play, but it definitely sounds quite interesting, although it could come off a tad creepy.
Filed in . Read more about AI (Artificial Intelligence), Alexa and Amazon.