Alexa is an intelligent digital personal assistant developed by Amazon that makes use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Alexa lives in the cloud so it’s always getting smarter, and updates automatically. Amazon Alexa is a prime example of machine learning in action and is one of the most successful applications of consumer-based use of new advances in artificial intelligence. Systems like Alexa are an early sign of a massive shift in how we interact with machines.

When you speak to Alexa it uses natural language learning and speech recognition to transmit your request to Amazon’s servers, which is where the real work is done. Machine learning software processes the spoken request and sends a response instantly back to Alexa, all in a matter of seconds. It is designed to be always on and woken with a voice command. Alexa reveals her personality by providing answers to questions about her tastes and opinions. Just like people’s opinions, Alexa’s opinions are subjective. Alexa has the same personality across all of your devices, with some differences between countries.

Alexa can do even more when you Enable Alexa Skills. Alexa is available on some Amazon devices, like Echo and Amazon Fire TV, and some third-party products, like apps and watches. Alexa got popular by the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot. With the free Alexa App on Fire OS, Android, iOS, and desktop browsers, you can easily setup and manage your Echo Dot. Use the Alexa App to connect services you already use like Spotify, Pandora, and Google Calendar. Setup your smart home devices from Philips Hue, TP-Link, ecobee, WeMo, SmartThings, Insteon, Nest, Lutron, and more. The Alexa App is also where you discover third-party skills. Alexa does many things and is always learning. All you have to do is ask.

Alexa Echo devices are capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic and other real time information. It can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation hub. These Echo devices are designed for use in noisier environments and to understand requests coming from further afield. All you have to do is ask. If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, Alexa responds intelligently from the Echo you’re closest to with ESP (Echo Spatial Perception).

sources : amazon, wikipedia