But there’s computer science behind it, too,” Limp said. “We did go through a number of names and the name is important as much for the personality that it creates around the persona than is this computer-based voice computer in the cloud.

Since this service is voice-activated, Amazon wanted to choose a name that wouldn’t get confused with other words that could accidentally awaken the device: More practically, the service was named Alexa because it contains the uncommon “X” sound. Alexa is always learning but, in theory, it should be a seamless source of information. Amazon is attempting to do the same thing. First, the name “Alexa” harks back to the Library of Alexandria, which attempted to collect all of the world’s knowledge. But why? According to David Limp, the Amazon executive who oversaw the development of the service, the name “Alexa” was chosen for a few reasons. Google Home has the Google Assistant, which comes alive when you say “OK, Google.” Amazon has Alexa. While Alexa is the official name for Amazon’s voice assistant, you can change this wake word to “Amazon,” “Computer,” or “Echo.” That’s a useful feature, especially if your name or your partner’s or roommate’s name happens to be Alexa or something that sounds similar. “Alexa is always getting smarter with new capabilities through machine learning,” Amazon’s Developer site reads. That’s why you’re starting to see Alexa in headphones and other devices. The service can be used to voice-enable any connected device that has a microphone and speaker. Amazon’s AVS is an intelligent voice recognition and natural language understanding service. For most devices, you just have to say the wake word to get a response.Īccording to Amazon’s Developer site, the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) lives in the cloud. “Alexa” is simply the “wake word” that alerts the service to start listening to your voice. Amazon has designed the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) to mimic real conversations, but you’re actually using intuitive voice commands to get this service to perform specific tasks. Most common Amazon Echo Dot problems, and how to fix themīut really, what exactly is Alexa? When you ask Alexa a question, what you’re doing is communicating with a cloud-based service. What does the Amazon Echo yellow ring color mean?

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