Posted on 06/16/2023 8:48:18 AM PDT by mikelets456
Amazon barred a Baltimore, Maryland-based user from its smart home features for a week over an allegation that his doorbell intercom had made a "racist remark" towards a delivery driver.
In an explanation of his experience on Medium, Brandon Jackson, an engineer at Microsoft, who is Black, said no one was home when the alleged slur was made and the incident had led him to question his use of Amazon products.
The tech giant has since restored access to his account, and said in a statement that it was working to prevent similar incidents from happening in future.
The occurrence highlights the growing number of household features and appliances that are becoming increasingly technologically advanced, and the potential pitfalls of an interconnected home.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
I really like all things tech that are useful and have tried these things from the beginning but all of it either failed or I got tired of dealing with it and now nothing other than a NEST thermostat which I have disconnected from the WiFi but I suspect that it will connect and don’t trust it so I keep a loaded shotgun handy in case it makes any suspicious noises.
home-assistant.io
Only way to do home automation. Open Source. No third party cloud services. You can run your house on a Raspberry Pi and it only uses your home network. Not the internet. You can use an app to connect remotely to monitor and control things but it’s a direct secure connection with no 3rd party SAAS.
I’m wanting to automate drip irrigation and ventilation in my high tunnel(unheated greenhouse) using logic and sensors instead of just timers.
Soil moisture(control watering)
air temperature and humidity(open/close vents)
anemometer(close vents most of the way if it gets really windy, regardless of temperature)
All I know is that with my ring doorbell when someone rings the bell and no one answers it for 10 seconds, it automatically has a message asking “Hi this is alexa, how can I help you” and starts yapping about do you have a package, etc
Sounds like a battle of the bots.
Wasn’t this a originally a Babylon Bee piece?
Hal, turn on the stove. I want to prepare my dinner. And unlock the door, I need to go outside for a minute.
Sorry, I won’t do either of those things, Dave. You supported Trump. I heard you myself.
“I made a decision from the outset not to have that kind of stuff in my house, and that any devices that had it built in (e.g. garage door opener) would remain disabled or crippled if necessary (disconnecting/shielding antenna).”
To each his own. For me these devices increase my comfort and safety.
I simply do not understand this at all. You say a bad word and Amazon is programed to shut down your system? How is that even possible? They have no authority to do that. This is incredible to me.
Suppose you do say a bad word? Suppose you are standing there cursing & swearing? Suppose you do worse than that. Suppose you kill your spouse or whatever, I don’t see how Amazon has any right to take any action at all.
Well...I reckon if some idiot didn’t allow “AI” to run his house we wouldn’t know about this SHITE!
“I simply do not understand this at all. You say a bad word and Amazon is programed to shut down your system? “
That didn’t happen. Read the article.
Turning it completely off is the only way to safely avoid its recording your at home conversation.
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Not quite. The feds can have your phone turned on remotely and listen in with a warrant. You have to pull the battery and that ain’t easy anymore. And don’t forget the phone in your car.
Of course, if the feds are THAT interested in your goings-on then you probably have bigger problems....
sounds like a very big time law suite. sue sue sue
This was the slur? If so, then I’m a racist and I didn’t even know it! (sarc)
.... doorbell had issued an automated response—”Excuse me, can I help you?”—as the driver was walking away while wearing headphones.....
LOL. This is too funny. Racist AI!! Ban it!!
I see what you did there!
Ah, Morn’in. Just awoke from a much needed several year nap.. This is a conspiracy theory!!! And, ya know what ? My phone just sent a text to agreed.
Time to DROP THE SMART HOMES !!!
THAT IS NOT A DESIRED FEATURE !!!
That's not going to always work. Either put it in a shielding bag, or get an old one with a removable battery. That's why they won't sell new phones with removable batteries.
Obviously the homeowner was watching Blazing Saddles recently, and the doorbell decided to channel Gabby Johnson. Con sarn it.
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