The Amazon Echo has a ‘whisper mode’ for Alexa — here’s how to turn it on

AP/Elaine
Thompson

• Alexa can now respond to your whispered voice commands by
  whispering back to you, which is cool, but takes some getting
  used to.
• The “whisper mode,”
  announced back in September, was rolled out as part of a
  series of features aiming to make Alexa’s speech more intuitive
  and natural.
• “Whisper mode” is turned off by default, so you have to
  manually enable the feature.

It’s not hard to tell the difference between Alexa’s automated
voice and human speech, but a new feature that lets her speak to
you in a whisper makes her eerily more life-like.

This “whisper mode” means your Amazon smart speaker can detect
when you talk to it in a whisper, and will trigger Alexa to
whisper back to you. The feature was
announced back in September, but it was made available for
English speaking Alexa-enabled devices on October 18.

On the surface, the whispered voice is smart for situations where
a loud noise could cause a disruption, like in a room where
people are sleeping.
Amazon says the feature is only one of many it’s working on
in an effort to make its AI-powered Alexa speak more naturally
and respond to your conversation cues more intuitively.

But if you just listen to Alexa’s whisper mode in action, it’s
pretty eerie:

How to turn on Alexa’s ‘whisper mode’

The new feature is by default not activated, so you have to
enable it yourself. Whether your reasoning for switching on the
feature is for practical reasons or for a good laugh, the easiest
way to enable the mode is to just ask Alexa herself.

Say, “Alexa, turn on whisper mode,” and the feature will be
enabled.

Otherwise, if you’re not near your Amazon smart speaker, you can
easily toggle on the feature through the Alexa app. By clicking
on the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the top left
corner of the app, the rest is easy. Just hit Settings > Alexa
Account > Alexa Voice Responses > Whispered Responses.

Paige Leskin/Business Insider