On Thursday, Amazon announced a series of new Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) tags that will help developers control Alexa’s intonations a bit better than before, making her sound more sophisticated — or at least, more like us. Those new tags have debuted in the U.S., the U.K., and Germany, and include whispers, expletive bleeps, and emphasis.
So what do the five new tags do? There’s whisper, which is quite self-explanatory — developers can use this tag when they want Alexa to engage in softer dialogue. As for expletive beeps,
Of course, Alexa already has plenty of human-like qualities, or at least, qualities intended to make you believe she’s more human than she is. She can tell jokes, respond in kind to “I love you,” and get downright existential for the most philosophical of her users. But making her sound more like a person could go a long way in endearing her to you and your family.
Developers interested in learning how to make Alexa sound more like a real friend — which she isn’t — can join Amazon for a live webinar on SSML on May 18.
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