Alexa can now read with your child. It's as creepy as it sounds. Image by AmazonAmazon is known for making customers of all ages, even the children. There are many ways Alexa can be integrated into your child's lives, including Fire tablets and smart displays. Skills that allow for everything from homework help to games can also be used. Amazon now offers Reading Sidekick, which allows Alexa and your child to read together and coach each other when you are not there.AdvertisementReading Sidekick was created to make reading more enjoyable for children aged 6-9 years old. Reading Sidekick can be used with digital and physical books provided that they are available in Amazon's library. To activate it, you will need an Amazon Kids Plus account. It costs $5 per month with Amazon Prime or $3 with an active subscription. More than 700 books are available at launch, including recent titles such as Hair Like Mine and old favorites such as Chica Chica Boom Boom.After your child says, Alexa, let's read, the assistant will ask them to name the book and then queue it up for you to start. You can decide how long Alexa will read, or if it should take turns.Alexa will listen to your child once they have started reading. Alexa will help your child move on if they are struggling. Alexa will encourage them when they succeed, with words like "Amazing job!" and "Way to keep it up!". This is something that a human would not say these days, but this may be a way to distinguish Alexa from other people. Alexa may even give a woohoo! to your child if they are able to correctly pronounce words and keep up with their pace.Sidekick reading will be as simple as Alexa, let's read.The Reading Sidekick sounds fun. It reminds me of something I used to do when I was a child reading by myself. This might be something I try with my daughter when she is old enough to read. This is an easy way for kids to practice reading when you aren't there. The fact that it works as an AI assistant is an excellent way to keep them entertained.Alexa Voice Profiles For Kids will release the Reading Sidekick feature along with Alexa Voice Profiles. This will allow parents to choose to have a separate voice profile that can be used for up to four children. It might be worth considering for a child who relies on constant communication with the digital assistant.AdvertisementBefore you make a commitment, think about how Amazon trained its assistant so that these features are possible. TechCrunch reminds us that Amazon uses children's voice recordings to aid in natural language understanding and speech recognition. Amazon may review the samples manually in some cases. Alexa is able to understand accents and lisps as well as the many ways that children might pronounce words in their early years.If you are a parent who is unsure about the utility of these assistants and have already brought them into your home, you will be able to review how to delete individual voice recordings that your child has recorded. You can set it up to delete recordings automatically after a certain time. This option can be found in the Alexa Privacy dashboard for the mobile app under More Settings. Select the option to allow deletion by voice from there. You can then choose when and how often Amazon should delete your voice recordings. It has been set up so it does not save my queries. I reached out to Amazon to clarify whether this capability will be extended to Alexa Voice Profiles for Kids.AdvertisementReading Sidekick is a useful tool to keep kids engaged throughout the summer. This feature is available for Amazon Kids Plus subscribers. Alexa Voice Profiles for Kids is coming to everyone by July 2.
