(Credit: Amazon)
Amazon is now rolling out an "Explore with Alexa" feature that lets children interact with Alexa using generative AI, TechCrunch reports.
First announced at its September fall event, Explore with Alexa is focused on answering some of the 25 million questions kids ask Alexa each month. To start, it will support questions about animals and nature for those with an Amazon Kids+ subscription, which runs $4.99 per month for Prime members and $7.99 for non-Prime members. Responses are pulled from sources like the World Wildlife Fund and A-Z Animals and lets kids have a back-and-forth chat with Amazon's AI.
"When kids ask for a joke or an animal sound, Alexa may ask them if they want to hear something interesting, encouraging them to keep exploring a topic with fun facts and trivia," Amazon says. "Kids can also learn on demand by saying, 'Alexa, let's explore animals' or 'Alexa, tell me an animal fact' and hear responses themed around the wonder of animals and nature."
Given the audience, Explore with Alexa uses a protected version of Amazon's LLM with extra guardrails to prevent discussions about inappropriate topics or other wonky behavior.
In addition, the generative AI isn't being done in real-time on the device. "We want to go slow and be intentional and be measured with how we’re introducing this new tech...which is why we’re not just hooking the experience up to an LLM at runtime and kind of letting kids go at it,” Arjun Venkataswamy, senior product manager for Alexa Kids, tells TechCrunch.
"We will generate tens of thousands of potential responses, involve expert kids writers in a review process, then add the responses to Explore with Alexa for kids to discover," Amazon says.
Explore with Alexa launches alongside the new Echo Pop Kids smart speaker.