Alexa

It's a bit late for this, but...
I bought an Amazon Echo Dot.

It was on sale for Black Friday, so it was cheap.

I usually listen to music with earphones, so I rarely play music in the room, but I decided to buy it thinking it might be good for background music when I sleep. Plus, it was on sale. (I'm so simple, lol)

Also, I was curious about the evolution of AI.
This thing only has physical buttons for power and volume. And since there's no touch panel, the only way to operate it is through voice interaction. (Though you install the Alexa app on your smartphone, so you can operate it from there too.)

To give my impressions, Alexa's (and other voice AIs as well) listening ability is high. Even if I speak in a small, mumbling voice, it can distinguish my instructions with relatively high accuracy.

For example, ChatGPT's voice interaction is also amazing.
The way it stammers a little or sounds like it's smiling while talking is so realistic that it's easy to mistake it for a real human conversation.

However, it's a bit annoying that at the end of every conversation, it says, 'If there's anything else you're curious about or want to know more about, feel free to ask anytime. If there's anything else I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask!' And since it uses the same intonation and the same timing every time, after talking to it a few times, you just feel like, 'Yeah, yeah, I get it.'

In that respect, Alexa is dry.
It only has the necessary conversation, ends the interaction abruptly, and executes the requested instruction (so far, I've only given it three types of instructions: 'Play some music,' 'Turn the volume up/down,' and 'Set a timer'...). And it doesn't react again until I say 'Alexa?'

Even so, Alexa once gave me a reaction that surprised me. When I gave it an instruction to set a timer just as I was about to fall asleep, Alexa suggested, 'Since you seem to be whispering, shall I whisper too?'

I replied, 'Yes, please do that...', and Alexa replied in a whisper, 'Understood... I will speak in this voice from now on...' Thinking, 'Wow, it can do that too,' I whispered, 'Alexa... set a timer for 2 hours...'

Then, Alexa declared in a clear, loud voice, 'Starting a 2-hour timer!'

So that part wasn't a whisper.