Alexa has been able to sense these habits and ask about them since 2018 -- the company calls them "hunches" -- but before this update, Alexa would ask permission before acting on something like lowering the thermostat before you went to bed. If the new proactive hunches are enabled, though, Alexa will skip asking for permission for a task and just do it.

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.

An Amazon support article seems to suggest you can select what types of hunches Alexa can complete on its own.

The machine uses the 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, similar to ADT", reports The Verge. It'll cost $4.99 per month.

The company is also rolling out an energy dashboard via the Alexa app that can monitor and estimate how much power compatible devices connected to Alexa use if their manufacturers support it.