Amazon Alexa AI Assistant Skills Get Jacked Into the Syfy Channel

Amazon's AI assistant Alexa can help you get a lot accomplished with nothing more than your voice, but it does have its limits. What if you wanted to know what happened on a show that already aired, for example? Or, for that matter, an episode that hasn't even aired yet? It might prove a bit complicated if the proper APIs aren't in place. Fortunately though, Syfy fans won't have to worry about that limitation for much longer.

On its website, Syfy says that it's been working with Amazon to offer an extension that lets fans get quick information about the network and its programming. The company says that this is a creation to come out of its "Syfy Labs", and it's robust enough to understand queries about the network's programming. Even if you know the answers already, it might be worth asking, as the network is teasing that this Alexa extension will include a number of Easter eggs.

If you're a fan of 12 Monkeys but had to miss the previous episode, you could ask Alexa something to the extent of, "Alexa, what happened on the last episode of 12 Monkeys?" As teased above, you could even ask about the next episode, like so: "Alexa, what happens in the next episode of Hunters?". The answer to such questions are not going to be major spoilers, but would be on par with what you'd find in a preview.

As you'd probably expect, this Alexa component can also give you Syfy's schedule. It becomes really useful thanks to the fact that it will be able to give you the schedule up to 14 days in advance.

Overall, this is a somewhat simple addition to Alexa, but it does show that there is demand from companies to utilize this kind of technology to keep better engaged with their customers, or fans. Something tells us that Syfy will not be the last network to pursue this kind of functionality.