Amazon will be the first company to roll out subscription fees for its new supercharge AIexa model

After decades of free service, Amazon is now trying to roll out a subscription fee for an artificial intelligence-revamped version of Alexa that could cost as much as $10 a month. This whole new Alexa would be supercharged by the Anthroipic's AI, Claude, and it will be even smarter than before.

Alexa as an individual, not an AI machine

The new AI-powered Alexa promises to have more human-like conversations with you. Other than the ability to recognise your voice, it will also ask you personal questions and use it to give you more personalised and intimate responses. For example, Alexa might come up with better vacation suggestions based on the conversation you had with it before.

Alexa will also be smarter, with the ability to provide daily news summaries, helping you find recipes that would meet your dietary quirks, and even possess a specific tone for interacting with your children. This is just some of the perks you get with the subscription plan. But fret not, because you can still opt for the free version if you still feel more inclined to choose the basic Alexa version without all the AI mumbo jumbo.

Can't I just use the dumbed down version

It might be difficult for Amazon to justify its subscription fee, given that the majority of users use the voice assistant for relatively simple tasks. According to a survey conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, two-thirds of Americans who own an Alexa-powered device use it predominately for music and asking straightforward questions like checking the weather.

When digital assistants like Alexa and Siri were first rolled out backed in the early 2010s, many through voice assistants could be a life-changing addition to our lives. But more than 10 years later, Alexa has proven that they are dumber than most companies claimed, and it was often annoying to speak commands rather than type on a keyboard or tap on a touch screen.

After decades of mostly using the voice assistants to fire off quick text, check the weather or play music, it is quite unlikely that people would want a more advanced version of Alexa to help them with more complicated tasks.

Amazon gamble will pay off?

For now, Amazon will be the first company charging a subscription free for a successor to a popular digital assistant people have used for free since 2010. Amazon has also not revealed the price point for the individual plans they would be rolling out.

The manis over AI is giving companies a new selling point to upcharge you. It's now in your hands whether the promised features are worth it, or if you can't stomach any more subscriptions.