Alexa’s Conversation Mode Makes its Debut on Echo Show 10

Alexa’s Conversation Mode, which was revealed at Amazon’s fall 2020 hardware event and allows a group of people to chat back and forth with the voice assistant without reusing the wake word, has just made its debut on the third-gen Echo Show 10 (via Engadget).

Rolling out over the next few weeks, Conversation Mode is an opt-in feature, and can be switched on by saying “Alexa, join this conversation.” Anyone in the room will be able to speak with the voice assistant, as long as they’re looking at the screen and the smart display’s camera can see them.

Saying “leave this conversation,” or turning off the mic or camera will end Conversation Mode. There are also visual indicators to show when Conversation Mode is active. 

Amazon says that Conversation Mode’s AI uses visual and acoustic cues to determine when someone is saying something to Echo Show 10. Alexa then formulates a response based on the context. The company is planning to improve the mode over time and add features such as the ability to interrupt a list of options by saying something like “That one!”

Alexa will automatically switch off the Conversation Mode if there’s no interaction for a certain length of time.