Amazon is introducing a new feature that allows users to change the personality of its AI assistant Alexa+. The company on Wednesday announced three new Alexa+ personality styles that change the tone of its AI assistant: Brief, Chill, and Sweet.
In the Brief style, Alexa gives short, direct responses, while in the Chill style, Alexa responds like a relaxed friend. On the other hand, when you enable the Sweet style, Amazon says Alexa becomes warmer and more enthusiastic, offering encouragement and positivity.
The idea of imbuing AI with personality was a complex problem for model makers.
For some chatbot users, flattering and positive AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o have resulted in some users developing an unhealthy dependence on the technology. In some cases, the lawsuits allege, it exacerbated users’ pre-existing mental health issues, leading to crises and even suicide.
Still, chatbot users have indicated that they prefer to control how the AI responds, even writing custom instructions to dictate the AI’s personality. To address this need, OpenAI released new ChatGPT functionality in December. This feature now allows users to adjust the basic style and tone of the AI in terms of its warmth, enthusiasm, use of emojis, etc., among other things. Nevertheless, some users complain that the latest model is too reassuring by default.
Amazon says Alexa’s new style is built on five dimensions that contribute to her personality: expressiveness, emotional openness, formality, directness, and humor. Each style represents a specific level of all five elements. For example, the company says the Brief is not only concise, but casual, direct, and uses minimal humor.
You can change Alexa’s style by talking to the AI assistant through a device like an Echo speaker, or by accessing the feature under Personality Style in device settings in the Alexa app.
The company says these three styles are only shipping initially, with other styles expected to ship in the future. Currently, this style is only available in the US market.
