Amazon Alexa to stop support for celebrity voices, but you can get a refund
Say goodbye to the celebrity voices you can use on Alexa, as Amazon will shut them down soon. If you use the voice of former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal, you can no longer integrate it in the next few months, so enjoy while it lasts.
Amazon-Enabled Celebrity Voices Are Exiting Soon
Using the voices of famous personalities such as Melissa McCarthy and Samuel L. Jackson can give a lot of fun to the user, especially if you’re making a command using your Alexa device.
Before the prices of the celebrity voices increased to almost $5, you could get an excellent deal for under $1. Unfortunately, their days are already numbered since Amazon will no longer give you any access to purchase them, according to The Verge.
According to the company’s spokesperson Eric Sveum, Amazon is ready to part ways with the feature after three years of service.
“Customers will be able to continue using these voices for a limited time and can contact our customer service team for a refund,” Sveum added.
Although you can immediately request a refund, some users think it’s a bad idea to get rid of the celebrity voices. Telling a story using Samuel Jackson’s voice can give a different meaning to the readers. Likewise, the voices provide pure entertainment to everyone who wants to experiment using them on Alexa-operated gadgets.
Samuel L. Jackson’s Voice to Leave Next Week
According to Engadget, the voice of Samuel Jackson is about to bid goodbye from Alexa any day now, but you can still use it until June 7. The iconic voice was first released in 2019. Two years later, the voices of Shaq and McCarthy became available.
While using the three voices when asking a question or formulating a story is interesting, they have limitations just like any other text-to-speech features. You can not use them when dealing with shopping lists and reminders.
Meanwhile, the voices of McCarthy and Shaq are expected to be discontinued in September.
According to CNET, if these voices exit Alexa, you can still experiment with other accent types, such as British and Chinese. To do this, tell Alexa to change its voice.
Possible Reason Behind Alexa Voice Discontinuity
At the moment, Amazon might think that the celebrity voices are already outdated, given the advancement we reap from AI. Because of this, the e-commerce giant could be exploring new ways to introduce more unique features related to speech on the platform.
Besides that, Amazon could be dealing with another problem with its staffing following the layoff earlier this year. Back then, the company reportedly axed about 18,000 employees. Two thousand came from the division which handles the Alexa and Echo devices.
