Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28.
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So... if you own an inexpensive Alexa device, it just doesn't have the horsepower to process your requests on-device. Your basic $35 device is just a microphone and a wifi streamer (ok, it also handles buttons and fun LED light effects). The Alexa device SDK can run on a $5 ESP-32. That's how little it needs to work on-site.
Everything you say is getting sent to the cloud where it is NLP processed, parsed, then turned into command intents and matched against the devices and services you've installed. It does a match against the phrase 'slots' and returns results which are then turned into voice and played back on the speaker.
With the new LLM-based Alexa+ services, it's all on the cloud. Very little of the processing can happen on-device. If you want to use the service, don't be surprised the voice commands end up on the cloud. In most cases, it already was.
If you don't like it, look into Home Assistant. But last I checked, to keep everything local and not too laggy, you'll need a super beefy (expensive) local home server. Otherwise, it's shipping your audio bits out to the cloud as well. There's no free lunch.
Also, the home assistant voice solution is still very much in it's starting stage, and way behind where Alexa and similar commercial solutions are
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In the age of techno-fascism, the people willingly pay to install the listening devices into their own homes.
If you think that's wild, just wait until you discover how much they pay for having one they can carry around with them!
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How the fuck does anyone even buy one of these
I have a bunch in my house. It's a glorified radio all I use it for is:
- Set timer for x minute
- What time is it
- Ask CBC to play radio one Toronto
- What is the weather today
For the convenience I accept the mining they may do.
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I have a bunch in my house. It's a glorified radio all I use it for is:
- Set timer for x minute
- What time is it
- Ask CBC to play radio one Toronto
- What is the weather today
For the convenience I accept the mining they may do.
Lists are also very handy!
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If you do not want to set your voice recordings setting to 'Don't save recordings,' please follow these steps before March 28th:
Am I the only one curious to know what these steps are? The image cuts off the rest of the email.
If anyone else is wondering, I’ve not found a verbatim quote of the steps but I did see an article that mentioned the consequences. It seems like you will be able to turn this off but it will disable Voice ID:
anyone with their Echo device set to “Don’t save recordings” will see their already-purchased devices’ Voice ID feature bricked. Voice ID enables Alexa to do things like share user-specified calendar events, reminders, music, and more. Previously, Amazon has said that "if you choose not to save any voice recordings, Voice ID may not work." As of March 28, broken Voice ID is a guarantee for people who don't let Amazon store their voice recordings.
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I agree with your sentiment and despise Amazon but they do not own roomba the deal fell through.
That is actually good news to hear. Not completely good on my part for being incorrect about ownership, but once I saw the proposed deal back when it was announced, I immediately added them to the “no I don’t think I will.” list of products I won’t support.
Cheers for the clarification mate
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How the fuck does anyone even buy one of these
You can get them on Amazon.
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I am sorry but the telephony system itself is fundamentally a privacy threat.
So is the internet.
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I am sorry but the telephony system itself is fundamentally a privacy threat.
Wait till you find out about the internet and social media (including here).
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Yeah, just avoid the oligarchy tech
I agree. Although it’s nearly impossible at this point. Especially with Amazon running a significant portion of the internet with AWS. Each one of us most likely touches an Amazon server multiple times a day, even if we don’t have any Amazon subscriptions.
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They typed from their device that is also spying on them that they most likely also paid for...
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You can get them on Amazon.
Well played.
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I mean yeah, but for a lot of people if they ditch their phone they'll also lose their job and possibly relationships they value.
Cell phones spying on people isn't good, but most people are simply not informed about how invasive they are and couldn't make an informed decision if they tried. Pair that with the fact that cell phones are essential for a lot of modern life, and it's not difficult to see why the average person is generally more wary of smart speakers than cell phones.
The whole damn situation was a trap.
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I agree. Although it’s nearly impossible at this point. Especially with Amazon running a significant portion of the internet with AWS. Each one of us most likely touches an Amazon server multiple times a day, even if we don’t have any Amazon subscriptions.
That doesn't matter. You only need to worry about boycotting things within your control, like Amazon shopping and their consumer products. AWS is profitable, but so is Amazon.com.
Buying something at a different store is always a dub even if that store is using AWS on the backend.
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Alexa! Install Linux!
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the irony of posting an amazon link...
They create a problem, then sell the solution.
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My mom has one of those Google ones, I hate it.
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I agree. Although it’s nearly impossible at this point. Especially with Amazon running a significant portion of the internet with AWS. Each one of us most likely touches an Amazon server multiple times a day, even if we don’t have any Amazon subscriptions.
Like the other person said, you can at least control what you interact with directly. So you cancel your Prime subscription and turn your lights with your hand instead of an Echo but you don’t worry so much about trying to figure out if any of the several companies involved in making [product] have some form of attachment to AWS.
And there will be some level of consumption in this horrible system that’s not gunna be good in order for you to not be horribly depressed but people can shed more than they think and alternatives do exist for many of the ones you might put at lower priority.
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Only a fool would put an Amazon listening device in their home.
These devices are a great help to the elderly and disabled, and Amazon's offerings are the least expensive. My buddies Mom can call emergency services from anywhere in her home with just her voice. I don't think that's foolish at all.
