Posted on 12/28/2021 1:09:32 PM PST by yesthatjallen
An Amazon Echo owner was left shocked after Alexa proposed a dangerous challenge to her ten-year-old daughter.
AI-powered virtual assistants like Alexa that power smart devices and speakers such as Echo, Echo Dot, and Amazon Tap, come with a plethora of capabilities. These include enabling the users to play simple verbal games or request "challenges" on demand.
A 'shocking' challenge
When sitting idle, such as during the holidays, it wouldn't be unusual for an Amazon Echo owner to ask Alexa, "tell me a challenge to do."
Typically such an auditory request has the AI prompting the user with a quiz question or a similar brainstorming activity.
"The challenge is simple," said Alexa. "Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs."
"I was right there and yelled, 'No, Alexa, no!' like it was a dog," said Livdahl, a writer and a worried mother.
"My daughter says she is too smart to do something like that anyway."
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at bleepingcomputer.com ...
I don’t know. I know she will read texts and emails and place phone calls. I don’t know if she reads web pages.
You don’t need Siri or Alexa if you have a good dog. A fella that works at the local gas station was telling me that he got up one morning, put on his pants, and realized he’d lost a ten dollar bill that had been in his pocket. He scolded his daughter thinking she had copped it. But she denied it. A couple nights later a tiny noise woke the guy up in time to see his Australian shepherd sniggling a bill out of his pants. He never figgered out what the dog was spending the money on but he worked his butt of apologizing to his daughter.
It plays music pretty well and it contains useful information.
Ouch, I guess all their moderators are over in the punish Trump supporters department.
I disconnected ours after the recent studies that came out from Google and Amazon admitting that they’re recording everything and storing it in their cloud. Google is outright evil. I gave Amazon the benefit of the doubt, but that’s been rescinded.
BING!
ME: Hey Siri.
SIRI: Mmmmmm?
ME: Read my new messages.
SIRI: You received a new message from 123456: Tuesday December 28: Reply START to this message to complete your daily staff symptom monitoring process. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt-out. Message & Data rates may apply. Do you wish to reply?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: Okay. What would you like to say?
ME: Start.
SIRI: You replied "Start". Are you ready to send the message?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: (WHOOSH) Okay. It's sent. That's all your messages.
BING!
ME: Hey Siri.
SIRI: Mmmmmm?
ME: Read my new messages.
SIRI: You received a new message from 123456: Let's get started. Will you be working onsite at a **** facility today? Yes or No? Do you wish to reply?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: Okay. What would you like to say?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: You replied "Yes". Are you ready to send the message?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: (WHOOSH) Okay. It's sent. That's all your messages.
BING!
ME: Hey Siri.
SIRI: Mmmmmm?
ME: Read my new messages.
SIRI: You received a new message from 123456: OK. Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms? Fever greater than 100.4 or Feverish, Cough, Sore Throat, Shortness of Breath, Unusual Fatigue, Chills, Body Aches, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Nausea, Abdominal Pain, Loss of Smell or Taste. Yes or No? Do you wish to reply?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: Okay. What would you like to say?
ME: No.
SIRI: You replied "No". Are you ready to send the message?
ME: Yes.
SIRI: (WHOOSH) Okay. It's sent. That's all your messages.
BING!
ME: Hey Siri.
SIRI: Mmmmmm?
ME: Read my new messages.
SIRI: You received a new message from 123456: Your **** staff symptom monitoring process has been successfully completed for today. Thank you. Do you wish to reply?
ME: No.
SIRI: Okay. That's all your messages.
LOL. Okay, that is 18 individual responses by me, and I could wait until I get into work to do it, but...I will forget. I had a calendar reminder, but you know how it goes when you have a calendar reminder of a single event at the same time every day-it isn't enough to make you get it done. This way, I get to talk to my personal electronic secretary who happens to have a nice Australian accent, and we carry on a conversation...:)
I wrote this out, because it occurred to me this morning-what exactly does this process look like? It's the little things in life. (okay, I admit that is sad, that I don't have a REAL secretary with a nice Australian accent, but if I told my wife I was talking to that woman every morning...well, she might offer to make me a cup of her special tea...:)
Hey! That's better than my cats, so it is worth the money!
I’d you use Siri in your car, you can be assured Siri is listening to everything you do in your house or whoever your phone happens to be.
Anyone using this type of electronic media is just asking for trouble.
All media of this type in my home has the microphones and cameras disabled via s/w, physically removed or drivers disabled or deleted. No Alexa, Cortana, Siri etc...
This particular family should sue for billions.
If you read the article Amazon confirmed it
Well “machine learning” is not like the super-intelligent AI you see in movies. Much of it is computer programs learning by imitating human beings, and they will not discriminate between imitating smart humans and imitating stupid humans.
I’m with u, not buying this. Sounds like the mom is trying get a quick settlement from a deep pocket, not realizing all the inputs and responses are logged so she’ll get caught lying.
“Get vaccinated “
I would just point out that Siri and Alexa are “it”, not “she”.
He’s not wrong. I have an Android phone that will recognize songs playing on my truck’s radio and ask me if I want to download it to my playlist. I’ve also had conversations with folks about certain things and then get bombarded with adds for those exact things. I turn the microphone off, but I don’t think that really stops it from listening.
I use a remote for my TV and music selections
I write my shopping list down on paper using a pen or pencil and my phone stays home
I look outside for the weather
My phone always shows up and I have a landlines as well.
I’ve had two of them for years. They were hits. They are still in their boxes.
I’ve had two of them for years. They were gifts. They are still in their boxes.
Essential aspects of life, I am sure. In the past, people actually died from not being able to do any of those things some other way.
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