Outset came the computer. Then the network emerged, allowing multiple devices in the same location to share information. From in that location the cyberspace evolved, giving humanity the ability to shop, sort, and find data with goose egg but a typed request.

All signs point to digital administration being the next revolution in computing. iPhones have Siri, Google has Assistant, Microsoft has Cortana, and Amazon has Alexa, and all of them can get you results with nothing merely a voice command.

Alexa has dominated the digital assistant space in the by few years, quickly becoming a household name. Amazon has established an early foothold in the war for digital assistant supremacy, simply for those that don't utilise Alexa or 1 of its competitors, at that place'southward however the question of what exactly they are.

TechRepublic's cheat sheet about Amazon Alexa is an introduction to this digital assistant, likewise as a "living" guide that will exist updated periodically. At that place is too a free PDF version of this commodity: Amazon Alexa: An insider's guide.

Run into: 5 Net of Things (IoT) innovations (free Pdf) (TechRepublic)

Executive summary

  • What is Amazon Alexa? Alexa is Amazon's digital assistant, get-go launched in 2014 forth with the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Alexa can provide results for web searches, club products from Amazon, and act equally a hub for compatible IoT devices all via voice commands.

  • When was Amazon Alexa released? Amazon Alexa has been bachelor to the general public since 2015. Amazon recently fabricated Alexa'southward API available to developers, allowing for integration in non-Amazon devices.

  • Does Amazon Alexa compromise user privacy? Alexa's always-on microphone can be a privacy business organization, and rightfully so. The truth is much simpler, however: Alexa isn't transmitting any audio until it hears its wake word, and everything sent to Amazon tin exist viewed in the Alexa app. In September 2019, Amazon revealed more than privacy-focused changes that tin make worried users feel safer, and in 2020 it added additional privacy features to protect users.

  • Why does Amazon Alexa thing? Amazon Alexa is a prime number case of motorcar learning in activeness and is i of the most successful applications of consumer-based apply of the new advances in artificial intelligence. Systems like Alexa are an early sign of a massive shift in how we interact with machines.

  • Who does Amazon Alexa affect? Amazon Alexa primarily affects consumers who use it in an Echo or other Alexa-based device, only it affects competitors equally well. Microsoft, Google, and Apple tree all have digital assistants that are being forced to play grab-up with Amazon.

  • What do developers demand to know about Amazon Alexa? Developers may interact with Alexa in iii different ways: Developing Alexa Skills, Integrating Alexa with third-party hardware, and adding Alexa support to IoT hardware. All of the necessary documentation and materials is available in Amazon's Alexa programmer portal.

  • How can businesses use Amazon Alexa? There are 2 ways businesses can use Amazon Alexa: Making utilize of existing Alexa capabilities to accomplish business tasks, or building new skills and integrations to benefit consumers or workers through the Alexa for Business platform.

  • How practice I use Amazon Alexa? The all-time fashion to start using Amazon Alexa is to purchase a device it runs on, or by installing the Alexa app. There are several third-party Alexa devices available with varying features and prices.

SEE: All of TechRepublic'southward cheat sheets and smart person'south guides

What is Amazon Alexa?

Amazon Alexa is an intelligent personal banana that makes utilise of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Information technology is designed to be always on and woken with a voice command.

Alexa can perform web searches, create agenda events, alter to-do lists and notes, order products, play music, read Twitter posts, recite email, and perform dozens of other tasks.

When you speak to Alexa information technology uses natural language learning and speech recognition to transmit your request to Amazon's servers, which is where the existent work is done. Machine learning software processes the spoken asking and sends a response back to Alexa, all in a matter of seconds.

An Amazon Echo unit, or whatever other supported Alexa device, comes with bones features out of the box. Amazon's Alexa Skills store offers hundreds of additional capabilities, allowing information technology to play games, asking an Uber, add together items to your grocery shopping list, go recipes, find out if something is recyclable, or even become random true cat facts.

Additional resources

  • Amazon Luna, Alexa, Echo, Burn Goggle box and Ring event: Everything announced (CNET)
  • Amazon unveils Alexa Guard Plus home security service, new Ring devices for cars (ZDNet)
  • How long does Amazon Alexa go along your data? (CBS News)
  • Amazon refreshes Repeat lineup with new custom scrap (ZDNet)
  • Get our latest AI coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

When was Amazon Alexa released?

Alexa first launched on the Amazon Echo in November 2014. The Repeat, and Alexa with it, was initially only available to invited Amazon Prime members. General release for the Echo and Alexa was June 2015.

2017 was the twelvemonth in which Amazon Alexa truly began to capture the public's attending, with CES 2017 dominated by new Alexa integrations and third-party products. It may accept taken Amazon Alexa a few years to ramp upward, merely and so far, at that place'southward no stopping it in the digital banana space.

Amazon announced in September 2018 a broad range of new Alexa capabilities, including the Alexa Presentation Language for edifice visual Alexa Skills for utilise on Alexa-powered devices with screens.

Amazon's September 2019 Alexa updates focus around privacy and are likely a direct response to news prior to the result that revealed Amazon employees listen to what you say to Alexa, and Amazon stores transcripts of Alexa recordings indefinitely, even after users deleted the recordings.

In September 2020, Amazon announced several new Alexa features designed to make Alexa part of what Amazon calls "the ambient home." The ambient design philosophy makes Alexa a proactive part of the Amazon-powered smart home, taking the initiative to lock doors in the evening, turn off lights, and remind you to do things based on the time of mean solar day.

Other new features added to Alexa in September 2020 include the ability to trigger routines based on certain sounds (like snoring, a dog barking, or a baby crying), Alexa Care Hub, which allows ii Alexa accounts to link and so that one can monitor activity from the other, and a natural conversation way that will allow back-and-forth conversations with Alexa.

Additional resource

  • Best Amazon Alexa devices of 2020 (CNET)
  • How to make a Skype call with Amazon Alexa (TechRepublic)
  • Amazon Echo: The Alexa-powered smart speaker simply got a whimsical new design (CNET)

Does Amazon Alexa compromise user privacy, and how tin can I enable more privacy features on my Alexa?

Having an always-on microphone in the office or home can send the most level-headed person into a fit of paranoia: No one wants to exist spied on, and a vocalization-activated Amazon Alexa unit can seem like an invitation to that nightmare.

If y'all have Amazon at its word, at that place'south non much to be worried about, and what Alexa is broadcasting is just short, simple commands that it hears later on y'all wake information technology up past saying "Alexa."

Prior to being woke by a vocalisation command, Amazon Alexa units similar the Amazon Echo record a continual loop of the past 3 seconds, constantly overwriting the information in a buffer. Simply when it hears "Alexa" does information technology begin recording, transmitting your phonation to Amazon'south servers, and using voice recognition software to determine what yous want.

Encounter: Malicious AI: A guide for Information technology leaders (TechRepublic Premium)

That said, Amazon has been accused of being less than transparent in its handling of user data, especially since it was revealed that it was keeping transcripts of conversations users had deleted. If you're worried well-nigh Alexa spying on you there are several things you tin can do to make it safer, but still usable.

  • You can stop Amazon Alexa from listening in past clicking on the microphone button on an Repeat or a similar unit of measurement. It won't be able to hear wake words, but information technology also won't hear annihilation else until y'all tap that button again.

  • Disable Drop In, which allows you lot to connect to any other Amazon Alexa unit on your business relationship and apply information technology like an intercom. If someone managed to gain access to your Amazon account or Alexa devices, they could silently listen in.

  • Review all of your recordings in the Amazon Alexa smartphone app, where yous tin can besides delete them. This can too serve as a privacy boon, as you can encounter a record of everything your Alexa has sent to Amazon. Deleted vocalism conversations do live on equally transcripts that Amazon said are used to further train its car learning tools.

  • Physically protect devices in public spaces—exploits on older Amazon Echo models can allow attackers to install malicious firmware that records everything the device hears. Make sure devices in out-of-the-mode areas are physically protected from tampering.

  • Enable the Alexa feature that automatically deletes vocalisation recordings afterward three or eighteen months. This can be activated in the Alexa app in the privacy menu.

  • Use the new Alexa voice commands that can play back audio recordings and repeat what Alexa hears.

  • Be sure y'all enable the optional fashion that automatically deletes vocalism recording equally shortly as Alexa has finished processing them. This won't delete text records, which are nonetheless kept for 30 days and need to be manually deleted via the Alexa app.

  • Amazon plans to add together a vocalization control for deleting recordings "Alexa, delete everything I've said," later in 2020.

Read Amazon's privacy notice, and have a expect at its Alexa terms of use too—both may help you lot feel a bit safer.

Why does Amazon Alexa matter?

Digital assistants like Amazon Alexa are leading the AI and machine learning revolution currently underway in consumer tech. Humans traditionally collaborate with computers through typing or bear on, and upward until recently voice recognition was spotty at best, as anyone who tried using information technology on Windows XP likely knows.

The past decade has brought enormous leaps in motorcar learning and speech recognition, which has finally fabricated vocalisation commands viable for consumer products. Amazon and Alexa accept jumped to the front of the pack by opening their API for integration into 3rd-party apps and hardware.

With Amazon Alexa sales surpassing twenty million in late 2017, it's rubber to say Alexa is everywhere, and it'southward actively changing how we see and use the internet and computers in daily life.

Additional resources

  • Alexa Skills: Cheat canvas – TechRepublic (TechRepublic)
  • Academics smuggle 234 policy-violating skills on the Alexa Skills Store (ZDNet)
  • 10 ways Alexa can assistance yous get piece of work washed (TechRepublic)
  • How to use the new Amazon Alexa and Microsoft Cortana integration on your device (TechRepublic)
  • Amazon Luna takes on Microsoft xCloud, Google Stadia in cloud gaming battle (CNET)

Who does Amazon Alexa bear upon?

Amazon Alexa primarily affects several groups of people: Businesses, developers, consumers, and competing companies. The manner Amazon Alexa affects each group varies profoundly.

As Amazon Alexa continues to be the de facto leader in the digital assistant field the possibilities for businesses grow as well. Amazon Alexa has the potential to become a standard feature of the office through Alexa for Business concern, companies tin develop Alexa Skills for consumers, executives can utilise Alexa to manage their calendar and brand calls, and more.

Run across: What is AI? Everything y'all need to know most Artificial Intelligence (ZDNet)

Information technology'southward only a affair of time before Amazon Alexa, and products like it, are a basic part of our online experience. Businesses that don't make utilise of this technology in its infancy risk playing catch-up, just like Google, Apple tree, and Microsoft.

Every bit businesses go more involved in the world of Alexa and other digital assistants developers can expect to exist more involved also. Devs that work in the enterprise may exist expected to support Alexa for Business setups, pattern Skills, and help users adjust to more voice controlled interaction with technology.

Amazon designed Alexa to be a digital assistant, an IoT hub, an entertainment device, and a web searcher. All of those possibilities in one sound-simply device completely changes how the average person interacts with technology.

Consumers with sophisticated smart home or smart office setups tin utilise Amazon Alexa to turn on lights, adjust the temperature, practice laundry, turn on the oven—there are as well many possible integrations to mention hither.

SEE: How we learned to talk to computers, and how they learned to answer back (cover story PDF) (TechRepublic)

The sheer number of Alexa integrations also puts competitors in the hot seat: Despite increased usage of their digital assistants in 2017, Google, Apple tree, and Microsoft haven't captured nearly as much of the digital banana marketplace as Amazon, largely due to Alexa'due south head offset over its competition.

Integrations and the full suite of development tools for Amazon Alexa besides make it a big deal for developers and third-party hardware manufacturers, besides. Equally of right at present, the Alexa Voice Service tin can be integrated into a variety of products, making it the most fully accessible digital banana for developers and businesses that want to add voice command features to their IoT products.

The only other digital phonation assistant to function as a standalone unit is Google Home, merely Google has yet to completely open the door to third parties. Actions on Google, the development platform for Google Dwelling house, is open up to developers, and its Google Assistant directory opened in January 2018, but information technology has a means to go before it'due south on par with Amazon Alexa's Skills offerings and compatibility.
With HomePod, Apple tree has barely started to join the product battle, and Microsoft is completely out of the IoT hub game right now; if Apple and Microsoft plan on leveraging Siri and Cortana, respectively, as competitors to Amazon Alexa they need to step up. Time is running out, and Amazon Alexa is soon going to become synonymous with IoT digital assistants.

Additional resource

  • How voice assistants reinforce the tech gender gap (TechRepublic)
  • Inquiry: Companies lack skills to implement and support AI and machine learning (TechRepublic Premium)

What do developers need to know almost Amazon Alexa?

Alexa developers interact with Amazon's virtual assistant in three means: By building new skills for Alexa devices with the Alexa Skills Kit, integrating Alexa into existing voice command-capable products using the Alexa Vocalism Service, and connecting smart devices to Alexa using the Alexa Smart Dwelling house and Alexa Gadgets platforms.

All three methods of interfacing with Amazon Alexa involve using different SDKs, working with different APIs, and having unlike skills. Individual developers may want to focus on edifice Alexa Skills—the Vocalization Service and Smart Dwelling house products are designed more than for enterprise-level developers working on new products.

Encounter: How to become an Alexa developer: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

Amazon expanded Alexa'south capabilities in September 2018 with the introduction of the Alexa Smart Screen and TV Device SDK for developing Alexa-powered devices with a visual interface.

This new SDK, and the Alexa Presentation Language that goes along with it, bespeak a shift in Amazon'south Alexa evolution path abroad from only vocalization-driven skills and toward those with a visual component as well. This makes perfect sense considering that 97% of digital banana skills are only used for a week before being forgotten nigh—humans need a visual component to remind usa of what our devices are capable of doing.

Amazon has a wealth of data for potential Alexa developers bachelor at its Alexa developers portal—anyone who is interested in developing Alexa Skills or for an Alexa device can find all the tools and documentation needed there.

How tin businesses use Amazon Alexa, and what is Alexa for Business?

The simplest and most obvious way businesses can make use of Amazon Alexa in the office is by purchasing an Amazon Echo or other Alexa device, finding useful business or smart home/office Alexa Skills that could brand work around the function smoother, and giving it a shot.

Amazon Alexa can be used to command meeting rooms, bank check on travel reservations, and even plough upwards the temperature of the office Keurig automobile. Amazon Alexa is readily capable of being a smart function hub and a fill-in executive assistant for when the man assistant is too decorated.

Businesses may want to integrate their smart products with Alexa, build a new smart speaker, or simply become a Skill upwardly in the Alexa Skills store—all of which Amazon tin assist y'all practice.

SEE: How to optimize the smart part (ZDNet special report) | Download the study as a PDF (TechRepublic)

Amazon has a rundown of Alexa for Concern that deals with how to integrate Alexa into an office, and the Alexa developers portal has all the information needed for businesses looking to get a piece of the digital assistant pie.

Alexa for Business concern is a full-fledged, enterprise-level Alexa integration suite that includes the ability to manage and provision devices, manage users, configure custom skills and device rolls, and connect Alexa units to conferences rooms to work as voice-activated control systems.

In September 2019 Amazon added a new characteristic to Alexa called Alexa Guard, which allows Alexa-compatible smart speakers to act equally alarm devices that can detect windows being broken and smart/carbon monoxide alarms. While designed for home users, this feature can be great for businesses worried virtually security at the function.

In September 2020 Amazon announced Alexa for Residential, which is a new program for landlords and property owners that want to integrate Alexa-powered smart home features into rental properties. A new Alexa for Residential API allows developers to build custom skills that tin help residents put in service requests, connect with property managers, and permit staff to communicate with tenants.

Any organization that wants to go beyond only using Amazon Alexa hardware for publicly-bachelor skills should wait into Alexa for Business.

How do I use Amazon Alexa?

Amazon Alexa is available on the entire line of Amazon Repeat products. Several third-political party units are available too, so at that place's no need to stick to an Amazon Echo to get the Alexa experience.

Don't get confused by the presence of Alexa apps in Google Play or the Apple App Shop—those are simply hubs for controlling Echo units. The Amazon app on both iOS and Android offer Alexa, and they human action like a full-fledged Alexa device. On the habitation screen of the Amazon app, look for the Alexa circumvolve symbol to the right of the search bar.

If you want to see what Alexa is like without buying a speaker or installing the Amazon app, yous can head over to Amazon's Echosim.io site. Logging in with your Amazon business relationship takes yous to a page where you lot can try vox commands out without needing to spend $50.

The all-time way to use Amazon Alexa is to purchase an Echo or one of the 3rd-political party products that function the same way.

Editor's notation: This cheat sail has been updated with the latest information.


Image: Chris Monroe/CNET