{"id":20417,"date":"2022-07-20T17:54:46","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T17:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/amazon-is-automating-alexa-through-routines-assistants-and-universal-commands\/"},"modified":"2022-07-20T17:54:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T17:54:46","slug":"amazon-is-automating-alexa-through-routines-assistants-and-universal-commands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/amazon-is-automating-alexa-through-routines-assistants-and-universal-commands\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon is automating Alexa through routines, assistants and universal commands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amazon is making a bunch of changes to the Alexa user experience, all with the same idea in mind: making the virtual assistant easier to use. The most notable is a change in how Alexa handles Routines, which developers can now create and recommend to users instead of requiring you to manually build your own automations. Alexa’s also starting to coexist with other manufacturers’ assistants, and Amazon is working to make sure that the most important commands \u2014 like \u201cStop!\u201d \u2014 work no matter what wake word you’re using.<\/p>\n

Amazon made these announcements during its Alexa Live developer event, in which the company announced a slew of other new Alexa features mostly geared toward developers. They can add shopping to skills, more easily support Matter and other smart home systems, plug into a simpler setup flow, and understand more about their surroundings. <\/p>\n

But Amazon knows that none of Alexa’s flashy new features matter much if you can’t find them or figure out how to use them. And rather than build new UIs or clever voice menus, the Alexa team is increasingly leaning into just making the system do the work for you. \u201cWe want to make automation and proactivity available to everybody that interacts with Alexa and the devices that are connected to Alexa because it’s just so delightful,\u201d says Aaron Rubenson, a VP on the Alexa team. <\/p>\n

The change to Routines is the most obvious example among the new announcements. Users can still configure their own routines \u2014 \u201cwhen I say I’m leaving, make sure the stove is off and turn off all the lights,\u201d that sort of thing \u2014 but now developers can build routines into their skills and offer them to users based on their activity. \u201cSo as one example,\u201d Rubenson says, \u201cJaguar Land Rover is using the Alexa Routines Kit to make a routine they call ‘Goodnight,’ which will make sure the car is locked, remind customers about the charge level or fuel level, and then also turn on Guardian mode.\u201d It’s the sort of thing a lot of people might enjoy but few will do the work to create for themselves, but now they’ll just have to turn it on.<\/p>\n

Rubenson says that people who use Routines are some of the stickiest and most consistent Alexa users and that he wants those people to continue to have the knobs they need to build their weirdest and wildest automations. \u201cBut we also recognize that not everybody will take that step,\u201d he says. As Alexa continues to struggle to keep users engaged, adding some proactivity to routines could make them more useful to more people. <\/p>\n

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