Amazon’s AI-powered Alexa+ gets new personality options

Amazon has introduced new personality options for its AI assistant, Alexa+, allowing users to customize how Alexa responds. Launched on Wednesday, the three initial personality styles—Brief, Chill, and Sweet—alter Alexa’s tone and manner of interaction. The Brief style offers concise and direct answers, Chill provides a relaxed and friendly tone, and Sweet delivers warmer, more enthusiastic, and encouraging responses. These styles are designed based on five personality dimensions: expressiveness, emotional openness, formality, directness, and humor, with each style representing a unique combination of these traits. Users can switch between these personality styles either by voice commands on Alexa-enabled devices or through the Alexa app under Device Settings. Amazon emphasizes that these three styles are just the beginning, with more personality options planned for future release. The move reflects a broader trend in AI development, where users increasingly prefer to tailor AI behavior to their preferences, despite ongoing challenges related to the emotional impact and ethical considerations of AI personalities.