Amazon is introducing a new feature that will allow users to change the personality of its AI assistant, Alexa. On Wednesday, the company launched three new Alexa personality styles called Brief, Chill, and Sweet. These styles will change the AI assistant’s tone of voice.
When using the Brief style, Alexa will respond with shorter, direct answers. The Chill style makes Alexa answer more like a laid-back friend. Enabling the Sweet style will make Alexa become warmer and more enthusiastic, offering encouragement and positivity.
The idea of giving an AI a personality has been a complicated issue for model makers. For some chatbot users, a flattering and affirming AI model has led to an unhealthy dependency on the technology. In a few cases, it is alleged to have even exacerbated users’ existing mental health issues, leading to crises or worse.
Still, many chatbot users have shown a preference for controlling how their AI responds. Some even write custom instructions to dictate the AI’s personality. To address this, OpenAI recently launched features that let users adjust an AI’s base style and tone for warmth and enthusiasm. Despite this, some users complain that the latest models can be overly reassuring by default.
Amazon says its new styles for Alexa are built on five dimensions that contribute to personality: expressiveness, emotional openness, formality, directness, and humor. Each style represents specific levels of all five factors. For instance, the Brief style is not just concise, but also casual, direct, and uses minimal humor.
To change Alexa’s style, you can either speak to the AI assistant via a device like an Echo speaker, or access the feature in the Alexa app’s Device Settings under “Personality Style.” The company notes that these three styles are only the first to be released, with others coming in the future.