ALEXA emitting 'bone chilling' laughs, ignoring commands...
'There's a good chance I get
murdered tonight': Terrified Amazon Echo users reveal Alexa has been emitting
'bone chilling' laughs at random and is ignoring their commands
·
Users say their Alexa-enabled
devices won't stop laughing at random times
·
One user said they were sleeping
and an Amazon Echo Dot laughed unprompted
·
Alexa is programmed in many
voice-activated devices with a preset laugh
·
Amazon has yet to respond to
inquiries trying to get to the bottom of the issue
·
There are plenty of stories of
artificial intelligence gone wrong.
But recent reports from owners of Amazon Alexa
devices are being called 'bone chillingly creepy.'
Some
users say their Alexa-enabled gadgets start laughing totally unprompted.
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Some
owners of Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo (pictured, file photo) say their
gadgets are randomly laughing. Alexa is programmed to laugh at jokes, but
doesn't typically giggle at random times
One user reportedly tried to turn the lights off in their home but
Alexa repeatedly turned the lights back on, eventually uttering an 'evil
laugh,' according to BuzzFeed.
Another
Echo Dot owner said they told Alexa to turn off their alarm in the morning and
she responded by letting out a 'witch-like' laugh.
Alexa is
programmed in many voice-activated devices with a preset laugh, which can be
prompted by asking: 'Alexa, how do you laugh?'
But so
far, it's unclear why Alexa is laughing even when users don't ask her to.
·
Amazon has yet to respond to inquiries requesting more information
about the error, BuzzFeed said.
For now,
more and more users say they're sleeping with one eye open next to their
Alexa-enabled devices·
It's been
reported on several occasions that Alexa-enabled devices can be triggered by
ambient noises or sounds that go off in the same room, such as
commercials.
Last month, an Echo owner complained that a commercial had a man
asking Alexa to order him some cat food.
The
command prompted his Echo to order him cat food, which he clearly didn't
want.
The Echo
works by constantly listening for the 'wake word' – either 'Alexa' or 'Amazon'
by default – and then records your voice and transfers it to a processor for
analysis so that it can fulfil requests or answer questions.
CAN
AI DEVELOP A LANGUAGE OF ITS OWN?
Amazon isn't the only tech giant whose artificial intelligence
has developed a mind of its own.
Last July, Facebook shut down a controversial chatbot experiment
after the two AIs developed their own language to talk to each other.
The social media platform was experimenting with teaching two
chatbots, Alice and Bob, how to negotiate with one another.
But the researchers discovered that the bots had deviated from
the script and were inventing new phrases without any human input.
As part of the learning process they set up two bots, known as a
dialog agents, to teach each other about human speech using machine learning
algorithms.
The bots were originally left alone to develop their
conversational skills.
Like Amazon, Facebook has
encountered some creepy errors with its AI tech. Last year, the social media
giant's chatbots Alice and Bob were left alone as part of an experiment by researchers.
When they returned, the bots had developed their own language
When the experimenters returned, they found that the AI software
had begun to deviate from normal speech.
Instead, they were using a brand new language created without
any input from their human supervisors.
Below is part of a transcript of the Facebook bots conversation:
Bob: i can i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me
to me to
Bob: you i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to
me
Bob: i i can i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to
me
Bob: i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me
to me to t
can be used for a wide range of tasks, including ordering groceries or a
takeaway online, giving a weather report, ordering an Uber taxi, announcing the
latest football scores and playing music or podcasts.
It's also
not unheard of to have people talk to users through their Echo devices.
Last
June, Amazon rolled out a new feature called Drop In, which allows specified
users to talk to you through your Echo.
For users
who own multiple Echo devices, the Drop In feature enables them to use it as
intercom system.
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