Amazon announced its partnership with homebuilder Lennar on Wednesday. The two companies are creating “Amazon Experience Centers," which are model homes that contain appliances controlled by Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa, an artificial intelligence device sold as a home automation and time saving tool.
“As one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, Lennar offers the potential to enable this experience within easy driving distance of millions of customers,” said Nish Lathia, general manager of Amazon Services.
The commercials for Alexa and similar devices are tempting. A weary couple comes home from a hard day’s work, collapses on the sofa and merely speaks orders to an unobtrusive device tucked away in the corner of the room. The device turns lights on and off, adjusts the thermostat, picks out a good television show and orders pizza. At some point, one can imagine a near future where the...