Amazon announced today the ability for developers to build Skills aimed at kids. This is a very challenging step for Amazon but ultimately one that will help cement the Echo into the home.
There are a few other things the release of kids’ Skills could mean:
- Amazon has enough confidence in the accuracy of its STT / NLU for children’s speech that it can promote children-focused skills
- It’s addressing a concern that I had about accidental inappropriate responses
- Amazon knows that kids involvement with the product make it stickier. It makes it more of a hassle to switch from Echo to Home when the kids are using it.
- It researched enough regulations and put enough safeguards in place to confidently open itself up to child interactions.
Children growing up with the Echo will see voice interaction as second nature and won’t be able to fathom not having it. That’s weird.