Echo Show Now Lets Kids of All Ages Make Whimsical Voice-Led Cartoons

Amazon is entering the AI art space with a unique feature for Echo Show devices that allows users to create animated stories with their voices. 

The feature is appropriately called Create with Alexa, and though Alexa is right there in the name, this tool is only available for Echo Show devices and not audio-only gadgets like the Echo Dot or Echo Studio. In other words, you need a screen to watch the animations after dictating them.

Here’s how it works. You start by asking Alexa to make a story and then follow a series of prompts regarding plot, characters, visual style, and more. The AI engine uses your answers to create a five-to-ten-line narrative story complete with animations, music, and sound effects. 

Amazon says no two stories will ever be the same, even with similar prompts, due to the magic of AI. To that end, users can easily save their stories for later viewing. 

The tool is primarily aimed at children, though anyone can use it. As a matter of fact, your Echo Show does not need to be in kids' mode to use this service. However, the company has taken steps to ensure this feature only produces family-friendly content.

"From the get-go, we used carefully curated data sources to train AI models," wrote Eshan Bhatnagar, head of product for Alexa AI. "We have multiple guardrails such as content filtering and curated prompts to ensure this experience is both delightful and safe."

Just three themes are available at launch: a space setting, underwater, and an enchanted forest. Several moods, or tones, are also available at launch, such as silly, happy, and mysterious. Create with Alexa launches today in the US.