Tech Desk 
Jun 14, 2024
Amazon's Alexa, once the leading voice assistant, is falling behind in ongoing AI race. Despite the promises of a more conversational and intelligent the Alexa is, the former employees believe that the technology is reportedly still in disarray.
Amazon demoed new and a more conversational Alexa last year, but the technology is still not ready and former employees states that it might never be. Whereas the company is struggling to combine its existing Alexa capabilities with new AI technology, and its decentralised organisational structure is causing friction and frustration among the teams.
Amazon's vision for the Alexa is to be world's best personal assistant, but according to the former employees the company is far from achieving that goal. Despite the usage of millions of devices, Alexa's AI struggles to understand the natural language and makes effective API calls. The company's insistence on tying research to product launches has also hindered the progress.
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However, Amazon's struggles with the Alexa's AI upgrade may allow competitors like Apple and OpenAI to take over the lead in voice assistant market. Amazon's failure to deliver on claims it made could result in Alexa becoming a digital relic, a cautionary tale of a potentially innovative technology that got stuck playing wrong game.
Moreover, Amazon remains committed to the Alexa's growth, but its ability to deliver on its promises remains to be seen. With the company's decentralised structure and technological challenges Alexa may be able to achieve its goals in future but one thing is certain, though — voice assistant arms race is heating up, and Amazon is running out of time to catch up.
