Mark Mahaney, senior managing director of Evercore ISI, argues that Amazon’s stock “fundamentals” are getting better and are still rising.
“Alexa, sing this song like grandma used to sing it.”
Amazon announced on Wednesday, June 22 that it could soon include the impersonating voices of customers’ dead relatives in its Alexa products.
That’s what Rohit Prasad, Amazon’s senior vice president and chief scientist for Alexa, said during Wednesday’s announcement event in Las Vegas The characteristic is part of a larger initiative to build human empathy.
Amazon announced a new feature that could allow them to “hear” the voices of their deceased relatives. (iStock)
With so many lives lost during the pandemic, Amazon believes this feature will help create and maintain connections with those who are no longer on this earth.
“These attributes have become even more important during the ongoing pandemic as so many of us have lost people we love,” Prasad said during the event, the Associated Press reported this week.
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“While Al can’t take away that pain of loss, it can definitely make her memories last,” he also said.
Amazon could soon allow users to “hear” from old relatives. (Reuters/Carl Recine)
Although this feature isn’t yet available on Amazon’s Alexa, Amazon said the company is investigating it due to recent advances in text-to-speech technology.
Nate Michel, a spokesman for Amazon, told Fox News Digital about the announcement on Friday: “We’ve learned to produce a high-quality voice with far less data than hours of recording in a professional studio,” he said.
While this might seem a nostalgic and desirable feature to some, others might be less than thrilled about it.
Amazon is getting mixed reviews for its latest Alexa announcement. (AP Photo / Bebeto Matthews, file)
David Kessler, an author and grief expert based in Los Angeles, California, spoke to Fox News Digital about the potential impact this could have on someone who may be grieving the loss of loved ones.
“Some may find it comforting, others may find it unsettling,” he said.
“I think it has the potential to complicate the grieving process for some,” he also said.
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Kessler said it was healthy to continue “bonds” with the deceased.
“We don’t know whether Alexa will embody that well [yet]”he said.
On social media, the response to the announcement was largely skeptical.
One Twitter user wrote: “No Alexa. Please do not.”
Another said: “Can’t figure out if this is brilliant or creepy!”
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The Associated Press contributed coverage to this article.
