Amazon’s Alexa is now getting a new voice for its responses. The company that offers smart home devices like Echo, has partnered with the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan for its voice responses.
Alexa in the US already has voices of several celebrities like Samuel. L. Jackson, but this is the first time that the Indian Alexa is now getting the voice of a Bollywood celebrity.
You can invoke the conversation between Alexa and Amitabh Bachchan and make the celebrity talk to you by saying “Hey Alexa, Say hello to Amitabh Bachchan”.
However, this new voice will be available starting only next year as the Alexa team is still working closely with Bachchan regarding the responses you will listen to when you start the conversation.
The responses will include jokes, weather, shayaris, motivational quotes, advice and much more. Speaking about this collaboration with Alexa team, Bachchan said in a blog statement by Amazon, “Technology has always given me an opportunity to adapt to new forms. Be it in movies, TV shows, podcasts and now, I am excited to create this voice experience in partnership with Amazon and Alexa. With voice technology, we are building something to engage more effectively with my audience and well-wishers.”
Amazon uses its advanced ‘neural text-to-speech’ technology for providing voices of celebrities and the company first records the responses in the voice of the celebrities to frequently asked queries and then mimics the voice for other queries with the help of its own system.
“Cricket and Bollywood are integral to Alexa’s unique Indian personality. Mr Bachchan’s voice is truly memorable for any Indian who has grown-up with Bollywood. This combination delivers a perfect pitch to further delight and simplify the lives of our customers. We are excited to see how our customers will respond when they use Alexa and hear his voice,” saidPuneesh Kumar, Country Leader for Alexa, Amazon India.
The new voice will be available to all the devices that have Alexa built-in such as the FireTV, third-party speakers with Alexa Built-in, Alexa App on phones, etc. The voice of the celebrity will only be available in Hindi as of now.