Alexa can now act on its hunches to automatically do tasks for you

Amazon has rolled out a new feature called hunches that allows Alexa to proactively complete tasks around the house, such as turning off lights, based on your habits and frequent requests. If the new proactive hunches are enabled, though, Alexa will skip asking for permission for a task and just do it, The Verge reported on Monday evening.

Alexa has been able to sense these habits and ask about them since 2018, the company calls them acehunches but before this update, Alexa would ask permission before acting on something. While proactive hunches seem like they could make Alexa a lot more useful, having granular controls over what Alexa can automatically act on will be important, the report said.

Along with new Alexa abilities, Amazon is also rolling out its Guard Plus security subscription service. The service can alert you if Alexa picks up on certain types of sounds in your home and offers access to human agents who can call emergency services on your behalf. Users can sign up for Guard Plus in the Alexa app, and it will cost $4.99 per month.

Amazon has also rolled out an energy dashboard to the Alexa app that can monitor and estimate how much power compatible devices connected to Alexa use if their manufacturers support it. This can include anything from TVs to water heaters, and Amazon has a whole list of compatible products on its site about the new dashboard.