So Alexa decided to laugh randomly while I was in the kitchen. Freaked @SnootyJuicer and I out. I thought a kid was laughing behind me. pic.twitter.com/6dblzkiQHp
— CaptHandlebar (@CaptHandlebar) February 23, 2018
If there ever was a case against using in-home artificial intelligence, this is one.
Several users of Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa are saying it won’t obey commands and instead, will burst into an evil or witch-like laugh.
“Having an office conversation about pretty confidential stuff and Alexa just laughed. Anybody else ever have that?” one Twitter user asked Thursday, March 1. “It didn’t chime as if we had accidentally triggered her to wake. She simply just laughed. It was really creepy.”
“So my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason,” another said days later. “She didn’t even say anything, just laughed, we unplugged her.”
“Lying in bed about to fall asleep when Alexa on my Amazon Echo Dot lets out a very loud and creepy laugh… there’s a good chance I get murdered tonight,” an apparently frightened user shared.
And it’s not just spontaneous giggles that Alexa has been sharing. Some users say their AI has been rattling off creepier tidbits.
“We got home and, totally unprompted, our Amazon Echo/Alexa started talking,” one Alexa owner shared. “And then I realized it was listing off local cemeteries and funeral homes??? I’d rather it laugh at me tbh.”
Luckily, Amazon knows about the issue. A spokesperson told The Verge Wednesday, March 7, “we’re aware of this and working to fix it.”
