I replaced Alexa with ChatGPT on my Amazon Echo — here's how you can do it too

An Amazon Echo speaker with ChatGPT logo next to it
(Image credit: Tom's Guide/Shutterstock)

There are over 100 million Alexa devices in use right now, bringing information and entertainment to people across the world.

The Alexa phenomenon has spawned jokes, memes and even a range of stuffed twerking bears. It seems there’s something about having a friendly personal assistant on tap that people relate to.

However, Alexa is increasingly playing second fiddle to the ChatGPT experience. OpenAI's chatbot is smarter, faster and more engaging in every way. So much so that Amazon has recently had to respond with Alexa+.

But what if you could combine the intelligence of ChatGPT with the ubiquitous device penetration of Alexa?

We’re going to take a quick look to see how you can get the best of both worlds, by integrating ChatGPT into your Alexa system and win big.

Preparation

Resources you need

Amazon Alexa Skill

(Image credit: Future/Amazon)

Amazon Developer Account — https://developer.amazon.com/
OpenAI API Key — https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/api-keys
Github Template — https://github.com/k4l1sh/alexa-gpt

Before we start, we’ll need to set up two main components. An account with OpenAI to grab one of its API keys, and an Amazon Developer account to set up the Alexa integration using an Alexa Skill.

You can set up an Amazon developer account at this URL. The OpenAI API key can be created for free at this URL.

Don’t forget to set up some form of payment method for the OpenAI API use under the Billings section.

OpenAI runs a pay as you go API, but the cost of using this template is very reasonable at $0.15 cents per million tokens for ChatGPT4o-mini.

Once you've got those things sorted, here's how to do it.

1. The setup

(Image: © Tom's Guide)

Log into your Amazon Developer account and click on the Alexa Skills Kit option, which is located under the Amazon Alexa option on the first page.

Then select Create Skill and give it a Name (e.g. “chat” all in lower case). Then hit the Next button.

Working down the page, select:
“Other” experience
“Custom” and then choose:
“Alexa-hosted Python” under Hosting service.

Finally, click the Next button.

2. The template

(Image: © Tom's Guide)

Click on the Import Skill button on the right-hand side of the page. Paste this URL: https://github.com/k4l1sh/alexa-gpt — into the text field, and press the Import button.

This will import a ready-made template for the Alexa Skill we’re trying to create, and make things much easier than having to manually enter code.

3. Grab the code

(Image: © Tom's Guide)

Once that’s been done, select the Code tab at the top of the page, and paste your OpenAI API key into the correct location on the screen.

Click the Save button and then the Deploy button at the top right of the page. This will build the new Amazon Skill app.

Add ChatGPT AI to your Alexa app - YouTube Add ChatGPT AI to your Alexa app - YouTube
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3. The testing

(Image: © Tom's Guide)

Once the build has finished, and assuming there are no errors, a good practice is to go to the Build tab at the top of the screen to check that the Skill Invocation Name has been stored properly. If the field says ‘change me’, that’s an indication it has not.

If that's the case, replace 'change me' with a two word trigger phrase, following the rules set out in the sidebar on the right. This is the phrase-name that will trigger Alexa to fire up the ChatGPT integration, so it’s extremely important to get this right now.

Once that’s done, click on the Test menu option on the top bar, and accept microphone access on your computer.

Select Development mode from the dropdown, and test the new Skill by entering your invocation (start up) phrase. This can either be voice or text. If all goes well, you will receive an audible and text response from Alexa saying something like "I am a chat robot powered by ChatGPT."

Note: Alexa can be very fussy about the phrase you use to start the Skill, so pay attention to the responses. If ChatGPT fails to start properly, try setting another phrase, save and Build the Skill again.

I had a lot of trouble finding a phrase that met with both the Amazon rules and Alexa’s finicky comprehension. In the end I used "chat toot", and fired up the Alexa ChatGPT Skill by saying "Alexa, open chat toot".

4. Enjoy!

(Image: © Tom's Guide)

At this point you’re good to go. One thing that’s not made clear on the Amazon Developer site is the fact that you don’t have to distribute or publish this ChatGPT Skill in order to use it yourself.

All you have to do is make sure whatever Amazon account you use on your phone, computer or other Alexa device is the same one you've used to create the Skill.

The two will then connect automatically and the Skill will become available when you use your invocation phrase.


A final point to note is you may experience a little latency or lag in the Alexa ChatGPT responses using this technique. If this happens it's probably down to the state of your network connection or the API server responsiveness, and may vary from day-to-day or even time of day.

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Nigel Powell
Tech Journalist

Nigel Powell is an author, columnist, and consultant with over 30 years of experience in the technology industry. He produced the weekly Don't Panic technology column in the Sunday Times newspaper for 16 years and is the author of the Sunday Times book of Computer Answers, published by Harper Collins. He has been a technology pundit on Sky Television's Global Village program and a regular contributor to BBC Radio Five's Men's Hour.

He has an Honours degree in law (LLB) and a Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA), and his work has made him an expert in all things software, AI, security, privacy, mobile, and other tech innovations. Nigel currently lives in West London and enjoys spending time meditating and listening to music.

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