The Amazon Alexa is the online site's digital assistant which was introduced in 2014. The device continued to improve in the past few years, making it one of the most reliable and intelligent virtual assistants available at present. However, there are still some things that it cannot do.

TechRepublic wrote that the Amazon Alexa can order products from Amazon, give results for web searches, play music, create calendar events,track orders, and serve as a hub for compatible "Internet of Things" devices, among other things. It has proven to be one of the of the most successful applications of consumer-based use of new advances in artificial intelligence.

Amazon Alexa further improves the interaction between humans and machines. It primarily affects users of the Amazon Echo and other Alexa-based device, although it can also integrate with non-Amazon devices.

When users speak to the Alexa, their request will be transmitted to the website's servers via natural language learning and speech recognition. Machine learning software will process the verbal request and respond to it within seconds. The device can perform a variety of tasks related to the Internet of Things, and has various third-party add-ons and native integrations.

According to CNet, although the Amazon Alexa can now do many things, but it still has some lacking features and functions. The digital assistant has an alarm, but no music features. The Amazon Alexa has IFTTT integration but lacks actions. It also struggles with string commands so users have to separate each command in individual statements. The device also does not provide visual or audio notifications. It also listens to very limited words when addressed, namely "Amazon," "Alexa," or the name of the device. Users also cannot customize the language and female voice.

The Amazon Alexa will also repeat everything that users say when addressed. Statements with expletives will be repeated as well, with the swearing bleeped out. The digital assistant lacks a voice-memo function and cannot forward audio snippets to other users. It cannot distinguish between two different voices and will treat both as the same user. It also has very limited control over related devices.

Overall, the Amazon Alexa is reliable for various Internet of Things activities. More updates and enhancements are expected to follow soon.