AI is coming to your TV, whether you want it or not. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Amazon said its AI assistant, Alexa+, will be rolled out to all compatible Fire TV devices in the U.S. for free, whether or not the customer has a Prime subscription. The update brings conversational search, smart home controls, and AI-powered recommendations, the company says.<\/p>\n
Previously, Alexa+<\/a> cost $19.99 per month for anyone who didn\u2019t have an Amazon Prime membership, and was initially made available to the new Fire TV devices <\/a>the company announced last fall.<\/p>\n Now, Amazon says<\/a> that everyone will be upgraded to Alexa+ automatically. They won\u2019t need to download an app or sign up for a subscription. Compatible devices include all the current-generation Amazon Fire TV Sticks, the Fire TV Cube, Amazon Ember smart TVs, and other smart TVs that have Alexa+ built in, including Hisense and Panasonic.<\/p>\n The move follows an industrywide push to make AI services available on more consumer electronic devices, often through non-optional upgrades like this. Google, for instance, rolled out Gemini to its Google TV platform earlier this year,<\/a> replacing simple search features with AI-powered conversational modes. Roku upgraded its voice assistant to AI<\/a> last year, too.<\/p>\n The companies point to metrics like time spent with the features to suggest positive consumer adoption trends. For instance, Amazon says that Alexa+ customers now have nearly twice as many conversations on Fire TV as they did with the original Alexa, which apparently suggests that customers with Alexa+ are no longer using their TV only as a lean-back source of entertainment, and are instead engaging with the AI, too. <\/p>\n Whether or not that\u2019s a good thing is debatable.<\/p>\n Amazon says that with Alexa+, users don\u2019t have to ask for shows by title, but can instead ask for suggestions based on other factors such as theme, age, or popularity \u2014 for example, \u201ca top-rated thriller\u201d or \u201ca historical drama with a strong female lead.\u201d<\/p>\n The AI bot can also help customers manage and control their smart home, including displaying their Ring camera feeds on the TV.<\/p>\n