Big changes are coming to your Amazon Echo. Starting March 28, 2025, every command you speak to Alexa will be sent to Amazon's cloud. This applies to all Echo devices. Previously, some users had the option to process requests locally on their device. That option is going away. According to Ars Technica, this is happening to make Alexa smarter with new AI features [1].Why the change? Amazon wants to boost Alexa's abilities with generative AI. Think of generative AI as a super-smart computer brain that can create things. This technology needs the power of the cloud to work. This means your voice recordings will be sent to Amazon's servers for processing, as reported by The Verge [4].What about privacy? Amazon says these recordings are encrypted and deleted after being processed. Encryption is like putting your voice recordings in a secret code. This helps keep them safe. You can also choose not to save your recordings. However, this will disable personalized features like Voice ID, which lets Alexa recognize your voice [4]. BGR explains that previously saved recordings will also be deleted [3].One common question is: Why can't Amazon just make the Echo devices powerful enough to process these requests? The answer is that the kind of AI Amazon is building requires a lot of computing power. It's more efficient to do this in the cloud than on a small device in your home. This is similar to how you might use cloud storage for photos instead of storing them all on your phone [1].Another question is: What about the "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" setting? This setting was only available on a few Echo devices and only in the U.S. with English language settings. According to The Verge, this limited setting is being discontinued on March 28 [4].This shift to cloud processing marks a big step in Amazon's AI plans. While some users might have privacy concerns, Amazon says it's committed to keeping your data safe. They offer privacy controls through the Alexa Privacy dashboard. As technology changes, companies like Amazon have to balance new features with user privacy. It will be interesting to see how these changes affect Alexa's performance and user experience in the future. Yahoo Finance also reported on this change, highlighting the removal of local processing [2].
