Forbes
Amazon's Alexa Is About To Get More Emotional
By: Kris Holt
Alexa might sound a little more natural when it responds to you from now on. Amazon is allowing developers to have the voice assistant respond to US users in "a happy/excited or a disappointed/empathetic tone" at various levels of intensity.
The company suggested the tones might be especially effective for gaming and sports Alexa skills. It noted developers might prompt Alexa to use an excited tone when you answer a trivia question correctly, or adopt an empathetic demeanor when it says your favorite team lost their last game.
Amazon has expanded Alexa's intonation options before. In January, it rolled out a newscaster-style voice, which can emphasize certain words in a similar way to news anchors. The company analyzed audio from news channels to pinpoint patterns in how newscasters speak.
It's adding another manner of speech to the voice assistant alongside the emotion-driven responses. The latest effort is a radio DJ-style voice Amazon designed to be used when discussing music. Developers can now also enable the newscaster style in an Australian accent.
Making Alexa sound more natural might make it more palatable for people to talk to. The typically stilted nature of voice assistants can be offputting for some. By adding extra emotion and humanity to how Alexa speaks, Amazon is making it the virtual assistant more engaging.
