Amazon is bringing conversational AI to Ring doorbells with the launch of a new feature called Alexa+ Greetings. This new tool is designed to handle visitors and deliveries using natural conversation when you cannot get to the door yourself.
It’s rolling out now to Early Access users in the US and Canada, letting Alexa take over door duty for you. This feature is far more sophisticated than the old pre-recorded responses we are used to hearing from doorbells. Alexa+ Greetings uses generative AI capabilities linked to your Ring and Alexa accounts.
It identifies who is at the door using Ring AI Video Descriptions, which analyze the event that triggered the camera. The system looks at their clothing, what they are doing, and what the person is holding to figure out if it is a delivery driver, a solicitor, or a friend.
Once the visitor is identified, Alexa engages in context-aware conversations based on the instructions you set beforehand. You can create customized instructions by speaking to Alexa on an Echo device or through the Alexa app. For example, you can tell the system, “Alexa, if I get a delivery, tell the delivery person to leave it by the side door.”
The system can even handle follow-up questions, like whether a signature is required, or relay messages about snacks or water you might have left out for the driver. The system is not just for deliveries, though. It also handles general visitors and salespeople. If a visitor presses the doorbell, Alexa+ Greetings asks for more details to find out if the visit actually needs your attention.
You can set instructions like, “If someone comes to the door trying to sell something, politely let them know we’re not interested.” If friends or family come by while you are busy, Alexa can greet them and ask them to leave a message for you instead.
To get started with Alexa+ Greetings, you have to meet a few requirements. You need either the Ring Video Doorbell Pro (3rd Gen) or the Ring Video Doorbell Plus (2nd Gen). You also need to have an active Ring Home Premium Plan or be in a trial period for that plan. This means you are paying a monthly fee just to access this conversational AI tool. Also, you must have the Ring and Alexa skills linked, and both Alexa+ and AI Video Descriptions need to be enabled in the respective apps.
The reliance on AI here makes me feel like issues may arise. This system is designed to identify people based on clothing and actions, and I would say the biggest problem is the risk of misidentifying someone. If your friend comes to see you after work while still wearing their logistics uniform, the system might mistake them for a delivery person and ask them to leave a package somewhere instead of letting them leave a message.
We also need to remember the privacy cost associated with features like this. Ring previously launched a facial recognition feature called Familiar Faces. While Amazon says Alexa+ Greetings uses video descriptions and does not identify who the person is, it does record and store these conversational interactions.
If you have the Ring Home Premium Plan, your notifications will indicate if Alexa spoke to a visitor, and you can review the full video from the Event History. Giving Amazon more data about who visits your home and what is said at your front door is a definite privacy trade-off for convenience.
Source: Ring via TechRadar
