Alexa Starts Issuing "Answer Update" Alerts For Old Queries

Ask Alexa enough questions and you'll eventually find one she can't answer. The personal assistant apologizes for its lack of a proper response, and now it has started issuing alerts when it finally learns the answer. The new ability is called "Answer Update," and it's exactly what it sounds like: a new answer to an old question. The user will need to enable the feature to use it, though.

The new feature was first spotted by VoiceBot and confirmed by Amazon to TechCrunch, which says the update is rolling out to Alexa now. Once a user receives that update, Alexa will verbally ask the user if they want to enable Answer Updates. Assuming the answer is yes, Alexa will then let the user know that she'll have an update for an unanswered question when possible.

"Okay," Alexa will say, "if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer, but I find out later, I'll notify you."

Users can see whether they have access to the new feature now by saying, "Alexa, turn on Answer Update." After enabled, users will get a notification about an updated answer on the device they use with the AI when the new response is available.

The update won't only help users get the information they want(ed), but also make it clear when Alexa gets a knowledge update, driving the point home that the AI is slowly getting smarter. Of course, by the time an updated answer is available, the user will no doubt have Googled it.

SOURCE: TechCrunch