[Amazon Alexa can now take control of smart home devices into its own hands, as Amazon has enabled its digital assistant to act on "Hunches" and proactively make adjustments based on user usage habits

Previously, Alexa could only ask permission to act based on Hunches that were intended to reflect the user's own smart home usage patterns (eg, turn off smart light bulbs at bedtime, adjust the thermostat upon waking, etc) Alexa can now choose to make such changes automatically, ceding some direct control in exchange for a more automated smart home

This may sound like inviting Alexa to rampage through your home, turning on the robot vacuum cleaner when you are trying to work or turning off the lights when you are doing your late night reading But this system has its limitations

For one thing, Alexa has Hunches enabled by default, but the assistant must opt in to act on its own Otherwise, it only asks for permission when it thinks it can take action

Second, the ability to take action on Hunches is currently limited to smart lights, plugs, and thermostats It is also possible to manually select devices that Hunches can influence through the Alexa mobile app This means that, for example, Alexa can be allowed to automatically adjust the thermostat, while maintaining control of the smart lighting

After all, this is hardly the rise of the robot However, Amazon needs to ensure that the same level of user control is maintained for future additions to supported devices and for Hunches functionality in general

If you want Alexa to act on Hunches, you can enable automatic actions from the Alexa app Open the settings menu and scroll down to "Hunches" and select it Select "Set automatic actions" to enable or disable this feature for connected compatible devices