Amazon Now Lets You Customize Your Alexa Commands and Responses

Amazon has announced a new set of tools that let you create custom responses from Alexa on your Amazon Echo. Called "Alexa Blueprints" the tools will let you create custom responses to specific questions.

For example, you can tell your dogwalker where the leash is, or tell your house guests how to use the heating system. Amazon hopes the new tools will let customers get more out of their Amazon Echo and broaden the appeal of the device.

Customization takes just a few minutes

If you own an Echo, it’s easy to get started making your own custom commands. Just go to the Alexa Blueprints website and log in to your Amazon account. From there you can pick a blueprint for commands. There are lots to choose from including more than twenty custom templates for what you might use for a house-guest, a birthday trivia game customized to the birthday boy or girl, or instructions for a dog sitter.

Then just follow the steps to fill in the answers you want for specific commands.  No coding experience is required.

“Alexa Skill Blueprints is an entirely new way for you to teach Alexa personalized skills just for you and your family,” explained Steve Rabuchin, Vice President of Amazon Alexa, said. “You don’t need experience building skills or coding to get started—my family created our own jokes skill in a matter of minutes, and it’s been a blast to interact with Alexa in a totally new and personal way.”

Amazon seems to be targeting families who own an Echo device with this new set of tools. There are already nearly 500 public Alexa skills built for kids alone.

Alexa can help you study or tell jokes

Other possible users to embrace Alexa Blueprints might be students who could use the call and response function to study for tests or Airbnb owners who can offer additional information to their guests. The virtual assistant market is getting pretty tight with Apple and Google also offering products similar to Amazon’s Echo.

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But this new set of tools could really give the Echo an edge as it's the only device to offer this type of service. Currently, Alexa Blueprints is only available in the U.S.

Amazon Echo was launched in November 2014. It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, and other real-time information. It can also control several smart devices so that is acts as a home automation hub.

Alexa has a reputation for creepy behavior

Search ‘creepy Alexa’ and you’ll be inundated with stories of Alexa owners who have experienced weird stuff like unprompted laughter, storytelling, and song playing.

My aunt got a google home for Xmas & she already has “Alexa”. This morning we were messing around with the google home and asked, “okay google what do you think of Alexa” and it answered “I like her blue light” and from across the room Alexa turned on and said “thanks”. im scared

— allison (@AllisonCalhoun1) December 25, 2017

One Twitter user told a particularly weird story. She said: "My mom's Alexa randomly turned on and started glowing and my mom was like "Alexa what are you doing?" And she said "I'm trying to learn new things" and my mom said, "no one told you to do that" and she was like "ok" and turned off."

It will be interesting to see how Alexa handles the new custom commands what new weird and wonderful stories emerge from this latest addition.

My mom’s Alexa randomly turned on and started glowing and my mom was like “Alexa what are you doing?” And she said “im trying to learn new things” and my mom said “no one told you to do that” and she was like “ok” and turned off. ?

— Moe ?? (@worivh_) December 27, 2017