Amazon’s Alexa assistant doesn’t know the answer to everything, but as The Beatles said, it’s getting better all the time. Now, Alexa will attempt to make it up to you if she’s stumped by one of your questions.
The new ‘Answer Updates’ feature will inform users after the fact when Alexa learns the answer to an earlier query. Users are being asked whether they want to enable the tool, according to an initial report from Voicebot.
Amazon has since confirmed the existence of the feature (via TechCrunch), and says users may be prompted to enable Answer Updates when Alexa doesn’t know the answer to a question.
The spokesperson said: “The Alexa service is getting smarter every day, and Answer Updates is just another way we’re continuing to expand Alexa’s Knowledge Graph.”
Related: Amazon Alexa vs Google Assistant
Users can also turn the feature on manually by saying: “Alexa, turn on Answer Update.” To that request, Alexa will respond: “Okay, if you ask me a question and I don’t know the answer, but I find out later I’ll notify you.”
Today’s reports don’t confirm how those notifications will be delivered, but it would make sense to pass them to the Alexa app, rather than have the assistant just blurt them out at a time when users may not be listening.
Amazon is working had to improve Alexa’s Knowledge Graph, which is far inferior to the Google Assistant’s. A 2017 study from AdWeek claimed the Google Home speaker is up to six-times more likely to find a correct answer than the Echo.
Will this feature prove worthwhile? Or is the whole point of a voice assistant to get the answer immediately, with the minimum of hassle? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.