Alexa must like underdogs.
Amazon’s virtual assistant, which powers the company’s Echo devices, is predicting a Falcons victory in today’s Super Bowl — despite Atlanta being a 3-point underdog to New England.
If you own an Echo, try asking Alexa who will win the Super Bowl.
“I think it’ll be a really exciting game with lots of scoring,” she responded today. “The Patriots were favored to win by three points the last I checked, but honestly I think the Falcons offense is going to soar and they will fly home with the win.”
It’s not clear as to why Alexa is opting for the underdog; perhaps there are some Seattle-based Amazon coders (and Seahawks fans) who dislike the Patriots.
Apple’s Siri, meanwhile, had a rather boring response to the same question of “who will win the Super Bowl?”
“The odds favor the Patriots over the Falcons by three points,” Siri said today.
Google Home, which rivals Amazon’s Echo, responded with this: “It’s hard to pick sides. I’m mostly rooting for the scoreboard — it’s there to help so many people stay informed.”
Asked the same question, the Google app read off a blurb from this USA Today story.
Alexa clearly is the more adventurous compared to the other digital assistants.
Amazon added several Super Bowl-related features to Alexa last month; she can answer questions like “what channel is the Super Bowl on?” and offer other information like stats, trivia, and odds. She can even help with taunts — try asking her “Alexa, give me a Patriots burn,” or “Alexa, give me a Falcons burn.”
Alexa has a Sports Update feature that lets fans get live score updates and schedule information. Other companies are also building sports-related Alexa skills; Turner Sports debuted Catch Sports last month to help fans find ways to watch their teams.
Amazon last year aired a Super Bowl commercial to promote Alexa and the Echo, which has proven to be the early winner in the home voice assistant space.
