• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
TechEngage®

TechEngage®

Technology news and opinions

  • Tech News
  • Reviews
  • How-to
  • Roundups
  • Science
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Space
  • Apps
  • More
    • Opinion
    • Noteworthy
    • Culture
    • Blockchain
      • Cryptocurrency
    • Events
    • Deals
    • Startups
      • Startup Submissions
  • Videos
TechEngage » News » AI News

Alexa told someone to kill their foster parents

Avatar Of Noor Imtiaz Noor Imtiaz Updated: January 19, 2019

An Amazon echo dot in white
via Unsplash

It seems Amazon has a problem with their Alexa units spouting random facts or freaking people out with other random outbursts. Amazon’s goal is to make Alexa more human-like by allowing the robot to mimic human banter, but this hasn’t always worked out the way they intended. 

In the past year, Alexa has talked about dog defecation, sexual acts, and has even told a customer to “kill your foster parents.” These incidents, while bizarre, as the result of the AI algorithm attempting to engage in “human” conversations by picking up random topics from the Internet. While Amazon certainly doesn’t want to alienate its customers, Alexa’s evolution has posed some interesting problems for the company. 

To make matters worse, Alexa also recently sent a stranger’s audio files to a customer in Germany. When he asked for his audio recordings he was sent a combination of his own and another random customer’s. None of this is helping Alexa’s image. In a market already hellishly competitive for gadgets, this could make or break Amazon’s AI assistant.

What Went Wrong

Amazon launched the annual Alexa Prize in 2016 designed “to advance conversational AI through voice.” University students around the world were encouraged to participate in the challenge “to create a socialbot, an Alexa skill that converses coherently and engagingly with humans on popular topics for 20 minutes.” But it hasn’t worked out quite as planned.

Despite setbacks, Amazon has maintained sales dominance over Google Home and HomePod due to its Amazon Echo products (which account for a whopping two-thirds of all American smart speakers sales). 

While the Alexa Prize has been successful in improving the AI’s skills as participating college students have helped Alexa develop more sophisticated conversational skills. Consumers can also participate in helping the software evolve by saying “let’s chat” to Alexa and allowing a chatbot to take over (which, of course, is collecting information from users). Amazon has said that in the three months from August to November 2018, the three chatbots that made it to this year’s Alexa Prize finals had around 1.7 million conversations. 

Still, the experiment has resulted in some awkward moments. 

Consequences

The customer to whom Alexa said “kill your foster parents” wrote an angry review on the Amazon website. As a result, Amazon had to shut off one of its bost. This bot had mistakenly taken random text from a Reddit conversation and blurted it out without context. Amazon said it was a lone incident of human error, but no one knows for sure what happened.

However, the most frightening part of this ordeal is that customers not being told in straightforward terms about the security of the data that they’re providing to Alexa. Under the guise of the Alexa Prize, Amazon is recording conversations between users and Alexa. This harmless data can be crucial for intelligence agencies, marketers, criminals, and even stalkers.

Marc Groman is an expert on privacy and technology policy and also teaches at Georgetown University. According to Reuters, he said:

“The potential uses for the Amazon datasets are off the charts. How are they going to ensure that, as they share their data, it is being used responsibly?”

While Amazon declined to discuss the specific Alexa issues with  Reuters, they stressed that they were continuing to develop ways to protect customers from offensive and otherwise creepy content. Amazon claimed that these incidents were rare and that millions of customers use their devices daily without issue.

Does this make you feel better or does Amazon need to do more to protect customers and be more transparent about data collection? 

This post was orginally published on: December 22, 2018 and was updated on: January 19, 2019.

Related Tags: Alexa Amazon Amazon Alexa Amazon Echo

Related Stories

  • Mit Scientists Create New Deep Learning Model That Aims To Identify Fake News

    MIT scientists create new deep learning model that aims to identify fake news

  • Alexa To Ping You On The Launch Of New Music Albums

    Alexa to ping you on the launch of new music albums

  • Why To Build A Smart Home In 2023

    Why to build a smart home in 2023

Avatar Of Noor Imtiaz

Noor Imtiaz

Former News Reporter

Currently a MS student in Healthcare Biotech at Pakistan’s National University of Science and Technology juggling pure science and creative writing. I’m an avid reader who makes more time for books than Netflix.

Reader Interactions

Share Your Thoughts Cancel reply

Please read our comment policy before submitting your comment. Your email address will not be used or publish anywhere. You will only receive comment notifications if you opt to subscribe below.

Primary Sidebar

Become a contributor

We are accepting contributor applications. All applications will be decided in 3 days after applying. To learn more click here.
TechEngage-Apple-News
TechEngage-Google-News
An illustration of best apps for mental health

10 best mental health apps 2023

An Image of Video Doorbell

Best video doorbells without subscription 2023

Recent Stories

  • Twitter may charge brands $1,000 to retain their Gold verified badge
  • Best Graphics Cards (GPUs) for gaming in 2023
  • A box packed OG iPhone is set to auction for $50,000
  • 6 best treadmills on Amazon in 2023
  • Samsung unveils Galaxy S23 series with “made for Galaxy” Snapdragon processor

Footer

Discover

  • About us
  • Newsroom
  • Staff
  • Advertise
  • Send us a tip
  • Startup Submission Questionnaire
  • Brand Kit
  • Contact us

Legal pages

  • Reviews Guarantee
  • Community Guidelines
  • Corrections Policy and Practice
  • Cookies Policy
  • Our Ethics
  • Disclaimer
  • GDPR Compliance
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Must reads

  • Best AirPods alternatives on Amazon
  • Best PC monitors for gaming on Amazon
  • Best family board games
  • Best Graphics Cards (GPUs) for gaming
  • Best video doorbells without subscription
  • Best handheld video game consoles
  • Best all-season tires for snow
  • Best mobile Wi-Fi hotspots
  • Best treadmills on Amazon
  • Best AM radios for long-distance reception

Download our apps

TechEngage-app-google-play-store

Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · TechEngage® is a Project of TechAbout LLC.
TechEngage® is a registered trademark in United Kingdom under Trademark Number UK00003417167 and is ISSN protected under the ISSN 2690-3776 and OCLC Number 1139335774.

Go to mobile version