The Amazon Echo speaker is cool but owning one isn’t a necessity. To be honest, I barely even use mine. The things it does, playing music, setting timers, acting as an alarm clock, telling you jokes, filling you in on the latest news, etc. are useful, not essential. Most of that stuff you can get from other sources.
To change that Amazon has introduced Alexa Blueprints. A way for Echo owners to create their own customized Alexa skills or responses, without needing to know how to code. With the hope being that people would be more inclined to use their speakers if there were more things that they could use it for.
According to TechCrunch, “the idea is to allow Alexa owners to create their own voice apps, like a trivia game or bedtime stories, or teach Alexa to respond to questions with answers they design – like ‘Who’s the best mom in the world?,’ for example.”
I think that the best potential use-case for Alexa Blueprints, however, is to use the technology to leave customized messages. For instance, if you’re an AirBnB homeowner, you could create a custom skill for your guests to use. By asking Alexa a set question, the guests would receive a note that you leave for them, about where to find extra towels or who to call in case of an emergency.
It’s worth nothing though that there are still limits to what you can do with Alexa Blueprints. As Wired puts it, “The Blueprints are not quite as customizable as you might think. Think of them more like Mad Libs for pre-existing Alexa narratives.”
All in all, it’s nice to see that Amazon is still tinkering with Alexa and trying to make the service as user-friendly as possible. Hopefully, it will get even easier to create new skills in the future. Skills that would be truly 100% customizable and not just following a plug and play template.
Is Alexa Blueprints the Greatest Idea Ever?
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