Amazon adds new personality to Alexa+ that can swear from time to time

Amazon announced that it has introduced a new personality option for its artificial intelligence-supported voice assistant Alexa +. This new style, which can be translated into Turkish as “cheeky”, offers a different speaking style designed especially for adult users. According to the information shared by the company, this option may occasionally contain censored swear words, sharp jokes and sarcastic expressions. Additionally, Amazon describes the personality in question as “a less filtered character, sharp wit, playful sarcasm, and occasional censored profanities.” Despite this, it is especially emphasized that the content security rules of the system are maintained and harmful or offensive content is not allowed.

The main reason why the new personality style stands out is that Alexa has been working with a more neutral and formal speaking tone for many years. However, technology companies have recently been trying to bring artificial intelligence assistants closer to a more natural and human-like form of communication. Amazon’s Alexa+ update is also considered an example of this approach. The company states that the new version uses advanced artificial intelligence models that increase chat fluency. In addition, the ability to select different speaking styles according to user preferences makes it easier to personalize the assistant.

Amazon Alexa+ has adult-specific security controls

Some additional security steps must be completed before the “cheeky” personality style can be activated. According to the information shared by Amazon, this feature cannot be activated if the user account has an active Amazon Kids profile. In addition, additional security checks are implemented for adult user verification. It is stated that methods such as facial recognition can be used in this verification process. In addition, when activating the system, a warning is displayed to the user that the speaking style “may contain adult content”.

On the other hand, it cannot be said that this mode completely allows the use of profanity. In the first tests, it appears that Alexa+ can use expressions that are considered milder profanities in English and mean “damn” or “hell” in Turkish. Despite this, it is reported that more severe profanities are filtered by the system. However, Amazon has not yet shared technical details about how swearing is censored. It is considered that in some cases, censorship can be applied with a classic “beep” sound or words can be replaced with different expressions.

Amazon specifically emphasizes that the main purpose of this new personality is to provide a fun and humorous conversational tone. Despite this, it is clearly stated that Alexa+ will not be associated with hate speech, illegal activities, personal attacks or harmful content. This approach shows that content security policies, which are becoming increasingly important in artificial intelligence chat systems, are also maintained on the Alexa + side.

Apart from the “cheeky” option, there are also different personality styles on the Alexa+ platform. Users can choose alternatives such as “sweet”, which offers a gentler and warmer tone, “brief”, which provides short and concise answers, or “relaxed”, which offers a more relaxed and calm speaking style. It is stated that his “casual” style, in particular, was designed with a speaking style that resembles a surfer with a relaxed attitude.