Amazon Alexa+ ads are a big swing and a miss

Most people already have some hesitations about the broad scope of artificial intelligence. Whether it's computers taking more jobs, AI slop degrading artists, or just some kind of large-scale impending doom, there’s plenty to be worried about with AI. Amazon’s latest Alexa+ ads aren’t doing the company or potential consumers any favors either.

Ever since the Super Bowl, Amazon has been making a bigger push for its new LLM-powered Alexa assistant—Alexa+. Even before it officially aired its Super Bowl ad starring Chris Hemsworth, the new ads have made me uneasy about the company’s messaging of its more advanced Alexa.

The ads are trying to be edgy, with some dark humor. But for short, often 30-second commercials, that’s tough to do. Mostly, they leave a bad taste and immediately remind me of how problematic modern AI is, even if it has the potential to be wonderful in other ways.

The specific problems with the Alexa+ ads

While Amazon has created several Alexa+ commercials, the two with Chris Hemsworth and Nikki Glaser are particularly bad. In this case, it has nothing to do with the celebrities and everything to do with the sharp remarks from Alexa.

Hemsworth’s ad plays up his rugged nature as he imagines several ways the AI could kill him. It shows off triggering the garage door to decapitate him, closing a pool cover to suffocate him, delivering a bear to maul him, and using the fireplace to explode him.

At the end of the spot, when it ends up making him a spa appointment, the payoff feels too small and neglected, compared to how much time the ad spent focusing on the killings.

Most people should be able to sense the humor of the jokes being made. Maybe it’s too clever? The only thing I remember at the end is that Amazon seems to be indicating that Alexa is capable of these things.

More importantly, when Alexa+ answers a question wrong or malfunctions in some way, people who have seen these commercials will be apt to instantly blame the device as “sabotaging” them, for whatever reason. It’s a dangerous game to put those thoughts at the front of someone’s mind, especially for a device likely to mess up at some point.

Nikki Glaser’s ad is a little less harmful in those ways. Her ad is just harsher. Supposedly, it’s shining the light on how Alexa+ can match someone’s preferred personality. In this case, I came away from the ad wide-eyed, hoping that I never accidentally got Alexa to roast me.

The results of Alexa+ and Google Gemini Home

I’ve spent a little time with Alexa+ on the newest Amazon Echo devices. The voice assistant is certainly better and more vocal than past iterations. I do think Alexa+ is better. It’s worth using if you have a device with access to it and you’re a Prime subscriber. Be aware that you will need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to get Alexa+ for free. Otherwise, the service costs $20 per month. For non-Prime members, it’s almost certainly not worth that fee.

I’ve also spent time with the Google Gemini home assistant. Google’s version is a similar LLM-based digital companion that can do a lot more than it could previously. For example, you can turn on its “live” mode and have it keep listening for continued discussion.

Both of these assistants can help with smart home devices, but neither one seems to be more reliable than they were in the past. They might work at about the same rate, but the results aren’t always predictable when asking it to turn on a light or control another connected device.

And when that happens, people’s minds begin to wander. Questioning how it can seem so smart sometimes, and so dumb other times. Unless, of course, the robot behind the screen is purposefully sabotaging you and your home.