Alexa now will praise kids for minding their manners
‘Magic word’ feature part of free parental controls
Politeness counts, at least when your child asks Alexa a question on an Amazon Echo speaker.
Soon, when your youngster asks Alexa to solve a math problem by exhibiting good manners — “Alexa, please tell me what 5 plus 7 is” — the voice inside the Echo will not only supply the right answer but will then add positive reinforcement: “By the way, thanks for asking so nicely.”
This new “magic word” feature, as Amazon calls it, starts to roll out in a software upgrade for the Echo, Echo Plus and Echo Dot smart speakers on May 9, part of a set of free parental controls called FreeTime for Alexa.
The feature reveals that Amazon is paying attention to a loud chorus of customers who were concerned that the act of rudely commanding Alexa to do something sends out the wrong kind of message.
First, set up parental controls
The new parental controls for Echo are a version of the FreeTime parental controls that debuted five years ago on Amazon’s kid-friendly Fire tablets.
Such controls on Echo speakers will let parents block voice purchases by the kids, filter explicit song lyrics, choose the content kids can listen to and also set bedtime limits that temporarily pause or suspend the use of an Echo. Through a software dashboard, parents can see their kids’ Alexa activity and review the youngster’s voice recordings in the app. What’s more, when the controls are enabled, Alexa will change the manner in which it responds to kid queries.
For example, if an adult today asks Alexa how many planets there are, the adult gets a straightforward response: “There are eight planets.”
If a kid asks the same question when FreeTime is enabled, Alexa will list each of the planets and go on to explain that “Pluto is considered a dwarf planet, although it is still awesome.”
If the kid wonders why Pluto is awesome, Alexa responds this way: “Pluto is awesome because it wasn’t a planet, then it was, now it’s not. It’s considered a dwarf planet by scientists. Just because you’re small though, doesn’t mean you’re not important.”
The new features arrive with some limitations. Because Echo speakers lack voice recognition, it cannot determine whether an adult is asking a question or if it is the youngster asking. That means a parent would have to manually turn FreeTime on or off each time an older or younger family member wanted to quiz an Echo.
Another drawback: Out of the gate, FreeTime on Alexa does not work with the Echo Show or the Echo Spot, Amazon’s smart speakers with displays.
Amazon also announced a version of FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa, a premium version of FreeTime that protects kids behind a walled garden. It includes age-appropriate books, Audible audiobooks, videos, apps, games and more.
There’s no additional cost if you al- ready subscribe to FreeTime Unlimited on a Fire tablet. Otherwise, Prime members can get FreeTime Unlimited for $2.99 a month.
Also new: Echo Dot Kids
Amazon launched the $79.99 Echo Dot Kids Edition, a version of the Echo Dot that comes with a free oneyear subscription of FreeTime Unlimited, a red, green or blue protective case and a two-year, Amazon-will-take-it-back guarantee. Amazon started taking preorders on Wednesday.
Not everyone is happy with what Amazon is doing with kids.
“Amazon is luring kids with bright-colored packaging and caretakers with parental controls, but this is a commercial intrusion into family life to which we should all say ‘No!,’ ” says Josh Golin, executive director of Campaign for a CommercialFree Childhood. “AI devices not only raise a host of privacy concerns but also interfere with the face-to-face interactions and kid-driven play that children need to grow and thrive.”