Amazon Alexa: Cheat sheet – digital assistants

Amazon Alexa: First came to the computer. Then the network emerged, allowing multiple devices in the same location to share information. From there the internet evolved, giving humanity the ability to store, sort, and find information with nothing but a typed request.

All signs point to digital assistants being the next revolution in computing.

Tech mistake | iPhones have Siri, Google has Assistant, Microsoft has Cortana, and Amazon has Alexa, and all of them can get you results with nothing but a voice command.

Alexa has dominated the digital assistant space in the past few years, quickly becoming a household name. Amazon has established an early foothold in the war for digital assistant supremacy, but for those that don’t use Alexa or one of its competitors, there’s still the question of what exactly they are.

TechRepublic’s cheat sheet about Amazon Alexa is an introduction to this digital assistant, as well as a “living” guide that will be updated periodically.

SEE: IT leader’s guide to the future of artificial intelligence (Tech Pro Research)

Executive summary

• What is Amazon Alexa? Alexa is Amazon’s digital assistant, first launched in 2014 along with the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Alexa can provide results for web searches, order products from Amazon, and act as a hub for compatible IoT devices all via voice commands.
• When was Amazon Alexa released? Amazon Alexa has been available to the general public since 2015. Amazon recently made Alexa’s API available to developers, allowing for integration in non-Amazon devices.
• Does Amazon Alexa compromise user privacy? Alexa’s always-on microphone can be a privacy concern, and rightfully so. The truth is much simpler, however: Alexa isn’t transmitting any audio until it hears its wake word, and everything sent to Amazon can be viewed in the Alexa app.
• Why does Amazon Alexa’s matter? Amazon Alexa’s is a prime example of machine learning in action and is one of the most successful applications of consumer-based use of the new advances in artificial intelligence. Systems like Alexa are an early sign of a massive shift in how we interact with machines.
• Who does Amazon Alexa affect? Amazon Alexa’s primarily affects consumers who use it in an Echo or other Alexa-based device, but it affects competitors as well. Microsoft, Google, and Apple all have digital assistants that are being forced to play catch-up with Amazon.

• What do developers need to know about Amazon Alexa?

• What do developers need to know about Amazon Alexa? Developers may interact with Alexa in three different ways: Developing Alexa Skills, Integrating Alexa with third-party hardware, and adding Alexa support to IoT hardware. All of the necessary documentation and materials is available in Amazon’s Alexa developer portal.
• How can businesses use Amazon Alexa? There are two ways businesses can use Amazon Alexa’s: Making use of existing Alexa capabilities to accomplish business tasks or building new skills and integrations to benefit consumers or workers through the Alexa for Business platform.
• How can I start using Amazon Alexa? The best way to start using Amazon Alexa’s is to buy a device it runs on, or by installing the Alexa app. There are several third-party Alexa devices available with varying features and prices.

SEE: All of TechRepublic’s cheat sheets and smart person’s guides

What is Amazon Alexa?

Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant that makes use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. It is designed to be always on and woken with a voice command.

Alexa can perform web searches, create calendar events, modify to-do lists and notes, order products, play music, read Twitter posts, recite emails, and perform dozens of other tasks.

When you speak to Alexa it uses natural language learning and speech recognition to transmit your request to Amazon’s servers, which is where the real work is done. Machine learning software processes the spoken request and sends a response back to Alexa, all in a matter of seconds.

An Amazon Echo unit, or any other supported Alexa device, comes with basic features out of the box. Amazon’s Alexa Skills store offers hundreds of additional capabilities, allowing it to play games, request an Uber, add items to your grocery shopping list, get recipes, find out if something is recyclable, or even get random cat facts.

Additional resources

• Top 5 things to know about Amazon Alexa (TechRepublic)
• AP Explains: How Amazon Echo listens and what it stores (CBS News)
• Amazon’s Alexa: Four reasons she isn’t going to take over the world (yet) (ZDNet)
• Amazon Echo teardown: A smart speaker powered by Amazon’s cloud (TechRepublic)
• Amazon Echo vs Google Home: The smart speaker battle is heating up (ZDNet)

When was Amazon Alexa released?

Alexa first launched on the Amazon Echo in November 2014. The Echo, and Alexa with it, was initially only available to invited Amazon Prime members. The general release for the Echo and Alexa was in June 2015.

2017 was the year in which Amazon Alexa’s truly began to capture the public’s attention, with CES 2017 dominated by new Alexa integrations and third-party products. It may have taken Amazon Alexa’s a few years to ramp up, but so far, there’s no stopping it in the digital assistant space.

Amazon announced in September 2018 a wide range of new Alexa capabilities, including the Alexa Presentation Language for building visual Alexa Skills for use on Alexa-powered devices with screens.

Additional resources

• New Echo devices and more: Everything Amazon announced (TechRepublic)
• Amazon’s Echo devices get redesigned on the way to world domination (CNET)
• Amazon Echo event: Pictures from Seattle (CNET)
• Skype calling coming to Amazon Alexa’s devices later this year (ZDNet)
• Report: Amazon working on Alexa-embedded smartglasses (TechRepublic)
• Amazon Echo can now call landlines and mobile phones for free (CNET)

Does Amazon Alexa compromise user privacy, and how can I enable more privacy features on my Alexa?

Having an always-on microphone in the office or home can send the most level-headed person into a fit of paranoia: No one wants to be spied on, and a voice-activated Amazon Alexa’s unit can seem like an invitation to that nightmare.

If you take Amazon at its word, there’s not much to be worried about, and what Alexa is broadcasting is just short, simple commands that it hears after you wake it up by saying “Alexa.”

Prior to being woke by voice command, Amazon Alexa’s units like the Amazon Echo record a continual loop of the past three seconds, constantly overwriting the information in a buffer. Only when it hears “Alexa” does it begin recording, transmitting your voice to Amazon’s servers, and using voice recognition software to determine what you want.

That said, Amazon has been accused of being less than transparent in its handling of user data.

So if you’re worried about Alexa spying on you there are several things you can do to make it safer, but still usable.

• You can stop Amazon Alexa’s from listening in by clicking on the microphone button on an Echo or a similar unit. It won’t be able to hear wake words, but it also won’t hear anything else until you tap that button again.
• Disable Drop-In, which allows you to connect to any other Amazon Alexa’s unit on your account and use it as an intercom. If someone managed to gain access to your Amazon account or Alexa devices, they could silently listen in.
• Review all of your recordings in Amazon Alexa’s smartphone app, where you can also delete them. This can also serve as a privacy boon, as you can see a record of everything your Alexa has sent to Amazon.
• Physically protect devices in public spaces—exploits on older Amazon Echo models can allow attackers to install malicious firmware that records everything the device hears. Make sure devices in out-of-the-way areas are physically protected from tampering.

Read Amazon’s privacy notice, and take a look at its Alexa terms of use as well—both may help you feel a bit safer.

Additional resources

• No, Alexa isn’t spying on you, but be careful with sensitive conversations (TechRepublic)
• Smart office secrets: Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant could hear commands the human ear can’t (TechRepublic)
• Amazon’s Alexa: Four reasons she isn’t going to take over the world (yet) (ZDNet)
• Amazon Echo murder case raises IoT privacy questions for enterprise users (TechRepublic)
• Are consumers ready for homes that listen to them? (CBS News)
• If Amazon starts sharing Alexa recordings, should we be concerned? (CBS News)

Why does Amazon Alexa matter?

Digital assistants like Amazon Alexa’s are leading the AI and machine learning revolution currently underway in consumer tech. Humans traditionally interact with computers through typing or touch, and up until recently voice recognition was spotty at best, as anyone who tried using it on Windows XP likely knows.

SEE: Amazon Alexa: An insider’s guide (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

The past decade has brought enormous leaps in machine learning and speech recognition, which has finally made voice commands viable for consumer products. Amazon and Alexa have jumped to the front of the pack by opening their API for integration into third-party apps and hardware.

With Amazon Alexa’s sales surpassing 20 million in late 2017, it’s safe to say Alexa is everywhere, and it’s actively changing how we see and use the internet and computers in daily life.

Additional resources

• 10 ways Alexa can help you get work done (TechRepublic)
• Watch out Windows, Android, and iOS: Amazon’s Alexa is turning into the next big operating system (ZDNet)
• How to use the new Amazon Alexa’s and Microsoft Cortana integration on your device(TechRepublic)
• How Alexa could bring Amazon back to smartphones (ZDNet)
• Why dumb Amazon Alexa’s conversations are actually really smart (TechRepublic)
• Video: How Amazon Echo and other tech are improving quality of life for seniors(TechRepublic)

Who does Amazon Alexa affect?

Amazon Alexa’s primarily affects several groups of people: Businesses, developers, consumers, and competing companies. The way Amazon Alexa’s affects each group varies greatly.

Actions on Google, the development platform for Google Home, is open to developers, and its Google Assistant directory opened in January 2018, but it has a ways to go before it’s on par with Amazon Alexa’s Skills offerings and compatibility.

is running out, and Amazon Alexa’s is soon going to become synonymous with IoT digital assistants.

Additional resources

• Alexa Skills: Cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
• Research: Companies lack skills to implement and support AI and machine learning (Tech Pro Research)
• What works with Amazon Alexa’s? (CNET)
• Amazon’s $25 Smart Plug brings Alexa brains to dumb electrical appliances (CNET)
• Amazon Echo and Google Home: Where the real battleground lies (ZDNet)

What do developers need to know about Amazon Alexa?

Alexa developers interact with Amazon’s virtual assistant in three ways: By building new skills for Alexa devices with the Alexa Skills Kit, integrating Alexa into existing voice command-capable products using the Alexa Voice Service, and connecting smart devices to Alexa using the Alexa Smart Home and Alexa Gadgets platforms.

All three methods of interfacing with Amazon Alexa’s involve using different SDKs, working with different APIs, and having different skills. Individual developers may want to focus on building Alexa Skills—the Voice Service and Smart Home products are designed more for enterprise-level developers working on new products.

This makes perfect sense considering that 97% of digital assistant skills are only used for a week before being forgotten about—humans need a visual component to remind us of what our devices are capable of doing.

Additional resources

• How to become an Alexa developer: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
• How developers can make their Alexa Skills easier to discover (TechRepublic)
• Alexa developers can boost their skill’s engagement with 8 free voices from Amazon(TechRepublic)
• Video: Why developers love working with Amazon’s Alexa (TechRepublic)
• Amazon releases Alexa developer kit for wearable devices (ZDNet)
• Amazon expands monetization program for Alexa developers (ZDNet)
• New Amazon dev kits bring Alexa to mobile accessories and more connected products(TechRepublic)
• Amazon redesigns Alexa Skills Developer Console (ZDNet)

How can businesses use Amazon Alexa, and what is Alexa for Business?

The simplest and most obvious way businesses can make use of Amazon Alexa’s in the office is by purchasing an Amazon Echo or other Alexa device, finding the useful business or smart home/office Alexa Skills that could make work around the office smoother, and giving it a shot.

Amazon Alexa’s is readily capable of being a smart office hub and a backup executive assistant for when the human assistant is too busy.

SEE: How to optimize the smart office (ZDNet special report) | Download the report as a PDF(TechRepublic)

Amazon has a rundown of Alexa for Business that deals with how to integrate Alexa into an office, and the Alexa developers portal has all the information needed for businesses looking to get a slice of the digital assistant pie.

Any organization that wants to go beyond simply using Amazon Alexa’s hardware for publicly available skills should look into Alexa for Business.

Additional resources

• 16 technical Alexa skills IT pros should know (TechRepublic)
• Alexa for Business likely to win in smart office, leverage AWS, Echo, developers, and consumers (ZDNet)
• To sell on Alexa, you need to rethink your entire product strategy (TechRepublic)
• Alexa for Hospitality: A clear example of IoT benefits for end-user and business (TechRepublic)
• Alexa can automatically learn your voice to personalize your home and office experience(TechRepublic)
• Why businesses are lining up behind Amazon Alexa’s in the virtual assistant race (TechRepublic)
• Photos: 10 smart office products to help you better understand your workplace (TechRepublic)
• Expect these smart office trends to impact business in 2018 (TechRepublic)

How can I start using Amazon Alexa?

Amazon Alexa’s is available on the entire line of Amazon Echo products. Several third-party units are available as well. So there’s no need to stick to an Amazon Echo to get the Alexa experience.

Don’t get confused by the presence of Alexa apps in Google Play or the Apple App Store—those are just hubs for controlling Echo units. The Amazon app on both iOS and Android offers Alexa, and they act like a full-fledged Alexa device. On the home screen of the Amazon app. And look for the Alexa circle symbol to the right of the search bar.

If you want to see what Alexa is like without buying a speaker or installing the Amazon app, you can head over to Amazon’s Echosim.io site. Logging in with your Amazon account takes you to a page. There you can try voice commands out without needing to spend $50.

The best way to use Amazon Alexa’s is to buy an Echo or one of the third-party products. And they function the same way.

Additional resources

• How to add Alexa skills to your Amazon Echo (TechRepublic)
• 10 Amazon Alexa’s skills to add to your Echo today (TechRepublic)
• The complete list of Alexa commands so far (CNET)
• Amazon brings Alexa to more commercial manufacturers with AVS Device SDK (TechRepublic)
• Amazon’s free Alexa API is a boon for developers (TechRepublic)
• Special report: How to implement AI and machine learning (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
• How to use the Amazon Echo and why you should get one (ZDNet)
• Amazon Echo: 6 interesting Alexa skills to try with your new speaker (ZDNet)
• A dozen helpful Amazon Echo how-to tips and tricks (ZDNet)
• Best Smart Home Devices for 2018 (CNET)

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