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Amazon reinvents Alexa
š„ Itās Here: AI Deep Dives + Limited Ads for Just $3.99!

Hello and welcome to the Automated, your AI tour guide.
Alexa isnāt just a voice assistant anymore; itās got a full AI makeover. Smarter, more capable, and maybe even a little too good at remembering things about you.
What does that mean for you? Well, letās just say this upgrade is nothing like the Alexa youāre used toā¦
Hereās what we have for you today:
š Amazon Reinvents Alexa.
šļø ElevenLabs Enters the Speech-to-Text Game with āScribe.ā
šŖ How Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet really stacks up against ChatGPT and Grok.
š How to write the perfect AI prompt, according to OpenAI president Greg Brockman.
š¤ ChatGPT Prompt Of The Day: Online course modules.
š Amazon Reinvents Alexa

Amazon finally gave Alexa the AI makeover weāve all been waiting for!
Introducing Alexa Plus, the AI-powered assistant that actually feels like an assistantānot just a glorified light switch or music DJ.
This thing remembers details about you, holds conversations without making you yell āALEXA!ā every five seconds, and can even do things for you.
Oh, and if you're a Prime member, itās free (otherwise, it'll cost you $19.99/month).
Whatās New?
Actual Smart Conversations: No more robotic, one-question-at-a-time nonsense. Alexa Plus keeps up like a normal human, understands context, and can even take action on its own.
Your Personal Assistant (For Real This Time): It can now order groceries, send invites, track concert tickets, book dinner reservations, and even plan your trips.
Memory That Actually Works: It remembers personal details, like your diet, favorite movies, or that you keep saying youāll start working out (but never do). Oh, and if youāre lactose intolerant, it wonāt add milk to your shopping listāat least, thatās the promise.
Reads & Analyzes Documents: Handwritten notes, emails, instruction manualsājust upload them, and Alexa will read and summarize them for you. Because, letās be real, no one reads the fine print.
Vision Capabilities: Yep, it can see now. Alexa Plus can take pictures, analyze images, and even check if someone walked the dog by referencing smart home cameras. (Kinda creepy, kinda cool.)
Smarter Smart Home Control: Sure, it still turns on lights and does the usual smart home stuff, but now it can create routines automaticallyāso your lights, thermostat, and cameras adjust to your habits without you lifting a finger.
Entertainment Upgrades: Forgot the name of that song stuck in your head? Just hum a little, and Alexa will find it. You can even ask it to jump to a specific scene in a movieāthough, in the demo, that took a few tries.
AI-Powered Creativity: Alexa Plus can generate stories, make AI art, and even write songs with the help of Sunoāso brace yourself for some weird (but hilarious) AI-generated tunes.
AI Super-Brain: Alexa Plus isnāt just running on Amazonās Nova modelāit taps into multiple AI models (like Anthropicās) to figure out the best response for any given task.
How Do You Get It?
$19.99/month ā Unless you're a Prime member, in which case itās free (which is wild, considering Prime itself is only $14.99/month).
Early access starts next month ā If youāre lucky, you might get in for free.
Also, it works on most Alexa devices ā Starting with the Echo Show lineup.
The Bottom Line:
Alexa Plus is Amazonās big shot at reclaiming the smart assistant crownājust as AI-powered rivals like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Appleās upgraded Siri are closing in.
The key difference?
While most AI chatbots are still stuck on screens, Alexa is already chilling in millions of homes (via the Alexa-compatible speakers).
If Amazon plays this right, it could bring next-gen AI to more people way faster than the competition.
Now, letās just hope it actually deliversābecause weāve all had enough of AI assistants that sound smart but canāt even set a timer without misunderstanding you.
Wanna know more? [Go here.]
š„ Itās Here: AI Deep Dives + Limited Ads for Just $3.99!
Hey everyone!
Big news - weāre launching The Lo Down Premium Experience, my AI deep dives newsletter, and Iād love for you to be a part of it!
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So donāt wait too longāthis limited offer is your chance to dive deep into AI at an unbeatable price.
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Cheers, |
Tak Lo (Editor at The Automated, AI entrepreneur and thought leader. More at thetaklo.com) |
šļø ElevenLabs Enters the Speech-to-Text Game with āScribe.ā

ElevenLabsāthe AI startup thatās been turning heads with its ultra-realistic AI voicesāis now listening instead of just talking.
Fresh off a $180 million funding round and a $3.3 billion valuation, the company has officially launched Scribe, its first stand-alone speech-to-text model.
And theyāre not just dipping their toes inātheyāre coming straight for OpenAIās Whisper, Googleās Gemini 2.0 Flash, and other major players in the transcription space!
š¤ Whatās the Big Deal?
Scribe supports over 99 languages and claims to deliver industry-leading accuracy.
ElevenLabs says English transcription reaches a 97% accuracy rate, and more than 25 languages fall into the āexcellentā category (less than 5% word error rate).
That includes heavy hitters like:
ā French
ā German
ā Hindi
ā Japanese
ā Spanish
ā Portuguese
ā Indonesian, and more!
Other languages are ranked as āhigh,ā āgood,ā or āmoderateā based on accuracy, so expect improvements as the model evolves.
š„ Features That Set Scribe Apart:
š¤ Smart speaker diarization ā It knows whoās talking! No more messy transcripts where all voices blend into one.
ā³ Word-level timestamps ā Perfect for precise subtitles and captions.
š¢ Auto-tagging sound events ā Yep, it even recognizes audience laughter, applause, and other background sounds.
š¤ Why Is ElevenLabs Doing This?
ElevenLabs has already been using speech-to-text for its AI conversational agents, but this is the first time itās offering it as a stand-alone product.
CEO Mati Staniszewski says speech recognition still has a long way to go, especially in less common languages.
"People think speech-to-text is a solved problem, but for many languages, it's still really bad. We believe we can do better because we have an in-house team that can annotate data and give instant feedback."
ā” How Much Does It Cost?
Scribe is launching at $0.40 per hour of transcribed audioācompetitive, but not necessarily the cheapest.
Some rivals offer lower rates, but ElevenLabs is betting that its multilingual accuracy and extra features will justify the price.
š Whatās Missing?
Right now, Scribe only works with pre-recorded audio, meaning no real-time transcription for meetings or live eventsāyet.
ElevenLabs says a low-latency real-time version is coming soon.
š¢ Final Thoughts:
With Scribe, ElevenLabs is officially moving beyond AI-generated voices and stepping into the world of speech understanding. If their claims hold up, this could be a major shake-up for the AI transcription space!
Will Scribe live up to the hype? Letās see what happens next! š
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š§±Around The AI Block
šŖ How Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet really stacks up against ChatGPT and Grok.
š How to write the perfect AI prompt, according to OpenAI president Greg Brockman.
šļø OpenAI is rolling out a free version of its Advanced Voice mode.
š§ Amazon is launching Alexa.com and new app for Alexa Plus.
š¤ OpenAIās GPT-4.5 launch is imminent.
š¹ Alibaba makes AI video generation model free to use globally.
šø Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shrugs off DeepSeek as sales soar.
š ļø Trending Tools
Opus Clip: AI-powered tool that repurposes long-form videos into viral short clips.
Voila AI Artist: AI tool that transforms photos into stunning cartoon and painting-style portraits.
Gling AI: AI video editing tool that removes filler words, pauses, and mistakes instantly.
Beautify AI: AI-powered facial enhancement tool that improves portraits with natural-looking edits.
PromptPerfect: AI tool that optimizes and refines prompts for better AI-generated results.
š¤ChatGPT Prompt Of The Day: Online course modules.
Creating an effective online course isnāt just about sharing informationāitās about keeping learners engaged, motivated, and actively involved. With the right structure and interactive elements, you can turn any topic into an immersive learning experience.
Hereās a prompt that can help you design a dynamic course module:
Design an interactive online course module on the topic of [specific topic]. Incorporate a variety of multimedia elements including instructional videos, interactive quizzes, and hands-on lessons to engage learners. Ensure the module includes clear learning objectives, user-friendly navigation, and opportunities for real-time feedback.
We've Compiled a List of Over 100 ChatGPT Power Prompts.
This should help streamline your interactions with ChatGPT and get the results you need more efficiently.
Best of all, It's free!

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