Voice Assistants have been at the forefront of parents almost since the beginning. From a kid who prayed to Alexa, to parents wanting the assistant to request thank you, prompting a response from Amazon. The latest update to Alexa address though questions saving parents difficult conversations with their kids (This is, of course, an overstatement). A recent update to the virtual assistant tool comes with a new mode called FreeTime in which Alexa knows to answer certain questions — like say, ‘Where do babies come from?’ —differently. In instances like that, Alexa can now simply respond ‘ask a grown up.’

Amazon even worked with child psychologists on some of the new answers that Alexa can give. According to the company, Alexa is constantly using questions and requests to ensure that she’s “always getting smarter.”

“Alexa isn’t intended to be a replacement parent or caregiver,” the company said in a statement. “So we believe it’s important we treat these answers with empathy and point the child to a trusted adult when applicable.”

One step further, parents can also set times during which Alexa will tell kids “Sorry I can’t play right now, try again later,” should their kids attempt to use the tool when they should be sleeping or doing homework. The FreeTime update will even encourage kids to say please and thank you before and after asking for things.

When asked Alexa, what happens when you die, she replies with: Sorry, I’m not sure.

FreeTime can be turned on using the Alexa app and is available on the  Echo, Echo Plus, and Echo Dot devices.

Alexa, saving parents since 2018. 

Mari

I’m Mari, your host for VoiceFirst Weekly daily briefing, you can find me on Twitter as @voicefirstlabs and on Instagram as @voicefirstweekly. Subscribe, like, share, engage. This is what we are here for! You have a great day and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.