Amazon's Alexa to record everything you say

Amazon's recently disclosed patent application shows that it is planning to allow Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices to record what is said even before a word of waking, such as "Alexa."

Currently, Alexa-enabled devices do not understand commands when the activation word is pronounced in the middle or at the end of the sentence.

With this patent, the company clearly seems to be looking for ways to expand the capabilities of its speech recognition technology, BuzzFeed News reported on Friday.

If implemented, the function could allow devices to respond to commands with the activation word in the middle or at the end of the command. Google has demonstrated the continuity of the conversation for their voice assistant and we had a first look at Google I / O 2019 earlier this month.

As per the patent application, after the detection of a wake word, Alexa may "look backwards" to find out if the command came prior to the wake word, and use pauses in speech to recognize the beginning of the command.

According to an Amazon spokesperson, the company presents several patents that are not ultimately implemented in consumer-oriented products.

"The technology in this patent is not in use, and referring to the potential use of patents is highly speculative," the spokesperson said according to the report.

The patent disclosure comes just weeks after some US senators and a group of 19 consumers and public health advocates accused Amazon of recording and keeping conversations taking place around its smart speakers, urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the case.