Alexa learned to transmit emotions

Amazon has updated Alexa - now the device can respond to the user in an ecstatic or distressed voice. For example, a virtual assistant will be sympathetic to report the loss of a user's favorite soccer team. Moreover, Alexa can independently choose three degrees of intensity of emotions.

Amazon engineers said Alexa will now sound "less robotic." In an effort to make user interaction with the virtual assistant more natural, Amazon taught the device to respond with either an excited or disappointed tone - the feature is currently only available to users in the United States. For example, she will answer in a neutral tone to a neutral question, but she will talk about losing her favorite team in an upset voice.

Alexa's ability to convey emotions is based on Amazons Neural Text-to-Speech technology, hightech.fm  reports. According to preliminary tests, "communication between users and the assistant improved by 30%." Engineers suggest that, first of all, this is due to the fact that the dialogue now sounds less monotonous.

Amazon also gave Alexa the opportunity to choose a speech style appropriate for US news and music content. This means that the device can change the voice in order to simulate a news presenter or a radio station DJ.

Earlier it became known that the police of Hallandale Beach are investigating the murder that recorded the Amazon Echo device - it recorded the couple's quarrel and the moment of the murder. Amazon police asked for audio tapes that might contain something useful. The company agreed to disclose the data.

Amazon has emphasized in a statement to CBS that it does not transmit customer information unless it is a “legally binding order”. At the same time, employees refuse if the request seems to them to be "extremely inappropriate."