Amazon has announced the introduction of an AI-powered search feature for Amazon Fire TV devices. This update aims to make content discovery more seamless and intuitive by leveraging advanced artificial intelligence technology to provide personalized recommendations.

The new AI-powered search feature for Amazon Fire TV devices is designed to address the common problem of spending excessive time searching for something to watch. 

According to Nielsen’s 2023 State of Play report, the average streaming customer spends over 10 minutes searching for content each time they access their streaming services. 

Amazon’s latest update aims to reduce this search time significantly. By using Alexa, users can now find TV shows and movies more easily with natural language queries. The AI-enhanced search allows for a more conversational approach, similar to asking a friend for recommendations.

Users can make complex or nuanced requests based on topic, genre, plot, character, actor, or even specific quotes from movies or shows. For instance, users can ask, “Alexa, show me movies about dog and human friendships,” or “What movie has the line, 'You're killing me Smalls?'”

The enhanced search functionality is powered by an Amazon-built large language model (LLM). This AI technology enables Alexa to understand and process natural language queries, providing contextual and personalized recommendations. The search results include content from the user’s Prime Video and other streaming subscription libraries, ensuring that users can easily identify which options are available to them without additional charges.

The new search capabilities allow users to find content in various ways:

• By Topic: Users can search for specific topics, such as “Find sci-fi TV shows about time travel” or “Show me classic comedy series about roommates.”
• By Genre: Users can ask for recommendations based on genres, such as “Find Korean horror films” or “Find me medical drama shows.”
• By Plot: Users can describe a plot, like “Find the mystery movie set on a private island” or “Show me movies where people get sucked into a video game.”
• By Quote: Users can search for content using memorable quotes, such as “What movie has the line, 'Life is like a box of chocolates?'” or “Find me the show where someone says, ‘Winter is coming.’”

The introduction of AI-powered search coincides with the 10th anniversary of Fire TV. When Amazon unveiled the current generation of Fire TV hardware and software at its fall event at HQ2 in Virginia, the company highlighted the improved search capabilities as a significant advancement.

This update follows previous enhancements, such as AI-powered Ambient Experience backgrounds, which create dynamic images from user photos or generate new imagery for the Fire TV interface.

The new AI-powered search experience has started to roll out to customers in the U.S. in English on select Fire TV devices running FOS6 and later. Amazon has announced that it will be available on all eligible Fire TV devices in the U.S. in the coming weeks.

As Amazon introduces these advancements, other major players in the streaming and smart TV market may look to develop similar AI-driven features. Google's rumored upgrades to its Google TV platform and potential enhancements to Apple's Siri for Apple TV could follow suit.