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| © Photo: Dan Seifert / The Verge |
By Dami Lee, THE VERGE
In the days leading up to the US midterm elections on November 6th, Amazon’s Alexa will be able to tell users information about voter registration deadlines, polling information, and give real-time election results. Following the election, Alexa will also be able to give more details on the outcome, including how many seats each party gained, and information on specific candidates.
Alexa will be sourcing its replies from a couple of different partners Amazon’s teamed up with. In the days before the election, Alexa will be offering information on voter registration deadlines, polling places and times, and ballot information from Ballotpedia, a nonprofit, nonpartisan digital encyclopedia. On Election Day, Alexa will be getting its real-time election updates from the Associated Press, and will be able to answer questions such as “Alexa, who’s winning in [state]?” and “Alexa, how is [candidate] doing in the election?”
In addition to voice responses, Echo Show devices will be able to provide visual graphs on its screen in response to questions like “Who won the [state] Governor race?” and “How many seats do [party] have in the Senate?” Amazon says that to add to Alexa’s AI and algorithm efforts, the company is also assembling a “war room” of writers, engineers, and data scientists to cover major events like the election and make sure information is as accurate as possible.
