{"id":27117,"date":"2020-12-15T20:21:23","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T04:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/?p=27117"},"modified":"2020-12-17T17:20:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T01:20:40","slug":"alexa-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/alexa-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexa Skills: Courses, Training, and Other Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Virtual assistants are practically available everywhere these days. Apple\u2019s Siri and the Google Assistant are some of the more popular online personal assistants that have snuck into every corner of our lives.
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This article focuses on Amazon Alexa, and how to approach building \u201cskills\u201d for it as a voice user interface (VUI) developer \u2014 someone who programs user interfaces, but for devices users interact with by using their voice.
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Your title doesn\u2019t have to specifically be \u201cvoice user interface developer\u201d to build Alexa skills. Anyone can do it with a bit of know-how!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are Alexa Skills?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Think of an Alexa skill as a trick you have taught to a puppy. Alexa comes pre-built with many tricks up its sleeve, but it can be taught many more through skill construction.

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You can also think of skills as apps. Just as your mobile phone has many apps that customize your interactions with a phone, Alexa \u201cskills\u201d allow users to customize their Alexa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do Alexa Skills Work? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have an Alexa, try saying \u201cAlexa, what\u2019s the weather today in Seattle?\u201d. \u201cAlexa\u201d is the word that triggers the Alexa to invoke the intent<\/em> <\/strong>\u2014<\/em> the request \u2014 <\/em>to search for the weather in Seattle.
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The question the user asked is called the utterance<\/em>. Together, along with the response Alexa gives to the request, is the total Alexa skill. So you can say the Alexa skill is made up of three parts:
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ALEXA_SKILL = user utterance + alexa intent => alexa response<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

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The skill is made up of a vocal command from a user and an intent from Alexa that leads to a response vocalized by Alexa, whether that response is successful or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are Alexa Skills Used for?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alexa skills are used to customize an individual Alexa with certain abilities. The possibilities are endless: querying Wikipedia, asking about the weather, looking for movie times, or playing a game. These are all apps, or skills, that can be used to make your Alexa more intelligent.
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There are currently more than 100,000 Alexa skills available with many more being built every day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of Alexa Skill Models<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are many different types of Alexa skills depending on what it is going to do. This dictates how your skill is going to interact with the Alexa service and what you will need to build.
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The Alexa skills usually fit in one of these models:
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