What can Alexa do?

"Alexa, what's the weather today?"
You can ask questions or give instructions by voice, such as
Alexa, the AI voice recognition service.

I've heard of it.
I see it often in Amazon sales.
But what can it actually do? What makes it convenient?

I imagine there are many people who
can't quite bring themselves to buy one.

In our home, we have had one Alexa
set up in the living room for about five years.

This Alexa really hits the spot
and does a pretty good job.

Sometimes when I leave the house for travel or to visit family,
"Alexa... oh, that's right, you're not here!"
It has become such a part of our lives that I find myself saying that.

Today, for those who are wondering what you actually use Alexa for,
I would like to introduce how we use Alexa in our home.

*The information in this article is current as of May 2025.
Please note that features available for free and the Alexa app screen display
may change in the future.

1. Playing background music

Did you know that as long as you have an Amazon account,
Amazon Music Freeyou can use the free version of the music service?

Compared to the paid version,
- You cannot specify songs (shuffle play)
- 15-second ads play periodically
There are limitations such as these, but

I feel it is sufficient for use as background music at home.

Surprisingly, if you link this service with Alexa,
you can easily play music with voice commands
like "Alexa, play some music."

In our home, as background music during the day or at dinner,
"Alexa, play jazz"
"Alexa, play recent J-Pop"
"Alexa, play cafe music"
we use Alexa to play music according to the mood of the moment.

After dinner, before putting the kids to bed,
"Alexa, play music box music"
we can easily switch to a bedtime mood.

It is very helpful to be able to play background music with just one word
without the hassle of launching an app on your smartphone
or connecting via Bluetooth to a speaker.

2. Supporting daily routines with Routines

It reminds you of your daily routines
triggered by the day of the week or time.

In our home, we have set the following daily reminders.


"It's time to leave." Alert for kindergarten or school departure time


"Did you clock in?" Prevention of forgetting to clock in for remote work

"Let's brush our teeth after eating."
To remind the children to brush their teeth

"It's time to go to sleep."
A signal to the kids that it's time to go to bed!

I also set up weekly reminders for things I tend to forget.

"Let's trim your nails"
- Reminder on the night before the nursery school grooming check day

"Did you prepare for your lessons?"
- Reminder for belongings on the morning of the day

Furthermore, these routines can be triggered by things other than day and time, and can also be combined with other Alexa features.

For example, if you set up a routine like the one in the capture above, you can use the trigger "

Alexa, good morning" to execute a sequence of actions: - Greeting - Tell me today's date
- Tell me the current temperature
- Tell me the rain forecast for later
- Play a playlist

Also, by utilizing integration with smart home appliances described later, you can execute actions like turning on the lights or the TV all at once.

3. Prevent forgetfulness with reminders and timers

Have you ever thought, "I need to do this at such-and-such time today!" or "I'll do this in so many minutes!" only to completely forget about it?

It happens to me all the time (laughs).

Alexa can set reminders and timers with voice commands like
"Alexa, remind me at [time]"
"Alexa, tell me in [minutes]"
.

Because you can register them by voice as soon as you think of them, it is overwhelmingly easier than setting alerts on your smartphone.

In our home, we also use it for time agreements with our children, such as when they say "I want to play a little longer," by saying, "Okay, then in [number] more minutes, when Alexa goes off, we're done!"

4. Make it even more convenient by linking with smart appliances

If you link it with appliances like lights, TVs, and air conditioners, you can perform operations like turning the power on/off with your voice.

In our home, we have linked our TV and a smart plug with Alexa.

It is very helpful to be able to turn the TV on/off even when you are in the "Where is the TV remote?" state.

Currently, the only things we have linked in our home are Alexa-compatible smart appliances, but appliances operated by Alexa do not necessarily have to be Alexa-compatible.

By utilizing a smart remote that can learn remote control operations and link to Alexa, you can control any appliance you normally operate with a remote using voice commands to Alexa.

We are also thinking that we would like to aim to build a more convenient smart home in the future.

5. Let's ask Alexa about things you don't know

In our home, when our children ask
"What time is it?"
"What does [word] mean?"
, we try to say,

"Why don't you ask Alexa?"
.

While skills like reading the calendar, telling time, and looking up words in a dictionary are certainly important,
I want my children to acquire the skills and intuition to utilize convenient tools for the era ahead.


the skills and intuition to utilize convenient toolsI want them to acquire.

Of course, it is difficult for young children to master Alexa on their own,
so they need support, such as asking Alexa questions together

or breaking down Alexa's answers into simpler terms for them.

I hope that by interacting with Alexa from a young age,
the habit of utilizing convenient technology will become second nature to them.

In conclusion

While purchasing large, convenient home appliances can be costly,
Alexa can be purchased for as little as a few thousand yen during sales.

In our case, the reason we bought it was,
"It's at a bargain price during the sale!
I'm not sure what's so convenient about it,
but I'll buy it for now."

Also, once you have purchased the device,
you can use various functions without subscribing to any paid services.

Everything introduced in this article is a free feature,
and beyond that, there are many other convenient "skills" available for free.

In this era where AI services like ChatGPT are becoming more familiar to us every day,
why not incorporate the AI voice assistant Alexa into your own life as well?