A hot potato: Alexa+ started rolling out to all Prime members in the US a few weeks ago, regardless of whether they want it. The fact that Amazon is pushing the upgrade out automatically isn't sitting well with some users, but there is an easy way of moving back to the original digital assistant.
Amazon unveiled Alexa+ almost a year ago. The generative AI-powered version is supposed to bring the assistant into the modern age, offering more natural language interactions, better understanding, and the ability to perform more tasks.
Amazon started rolling out an early access program for Alexa+ to hundreds of thousands of select users following the original announcement. But six weeks later, it was difficult to find anyone using it.
Now, Reddit users have reported that they are automatically being upgraded to Alexa+ as part of their Prime membership. One person said they received the update despite repeatedly refusing it for weeks.
Posts from the alexa
community on Reddit
Amazon's notification states that "as a Prime member, you get Alexa+ for free, and we will update the devices registered to this account to the new, conversational, and more delightful Alexa experience." It also says that the upgrade takes just a few minutes and requires no action on the user's part.
Given the misplaced confidence and tendency to get some things completely wrong, like health advice, some people don't want a generative AI-powered Alexa on their devices.
"Despite the fact that I repeatedly told it to not enable Alexa+, I woke up one morning to it being enabled and the voice was different. It's quite unnerving that it did so without my permission," writes one Redditor.
Beyond not having the ability to opt-out of the update, there have been complaints about Alexa+'s new voice, differences in behavior, the extra time it takes to answer queries, and its attitude in general.
"New Alexa was a salty b***h with a serious attitude problem. I like old Alexa, she may be slow, but far more pleasant," wrote one Redditor.
Another user said they were getting rid of Alexa altogether because they were sick of ads for Alexa+.
War has been declared.
byu/Achmed_Ahmadinejad inalexa
The good news for those who don't want Alexa+ is that reverting back to the original version is as simple as saying "Alexa, exit Alexa+." But, much like every case of a company forcing an AI feature onto people, this hasn't placated everyone.
If for some reason you're not a Prime subscriber who wants Alexa+, it costs $19.99 per month. Amazon said it is supported on 97% of all devices the company has ever shipped.
For the most part, companies tend not to care whether people want their new AI features, especially after plowing millions or billions into these technologies. So, if you're Prime subscriber, be prepared for some changes to Alexa soon enough.
Amazon Prime members are being auto-upgraded to Alexa+ whether they want it or not
