Some Alexa owners have characterized the unprompted cackle as “witch-like.”
AMAZON Echo users have mentioned being startled after their devices started emitting “evil laughter” on their own.
The unprompted cackle has been characterised as “witch-like” and “bone chillingly creepy” by some users of the voice-enabled assistant.
According to BuzzFeed, one user said that he tried to switch off the lights, but the system repeatedly switched them back on before emitting a “evil laugh.”
Another person said that when they told Alexa to turn off their alarm clock in the morning, she replied with a “witch-like” laugh.
The device has a pre-programmed laugh that can be activated by asking Alexa, “Alexa, how do you laugh?”
A downloadable software known as a “Laugh Box” is also available on Amazon, which allows users to play various forms of laughter, such as a “sinister” or “kid” laugh.
One Reddit user said that their Alexa system would not let them switch off the lights.
“Alexa stopped answering after the third request and instead gave an evil laugh,” they wrote.
“Alexa’s laugh wasn’t in her accent. It seemed like it was coming from a real human.”
People shared similar stories, with one saying, “It started laughing like she was being tickled.”
However, it is unclear why Alexa has been laughing without being asked.
“Alexa can always hear the phrase ‘Alexa, laugh’ by accident,” according to an Amazon spokesperson.
“To minimize false positives, we’re changing the phrase to ‘Alexa, can you laugh?’ and disabling the short utterance ‘Alexa, laugh.’
Alexa’s answer will also be changed to ‘Sure, I can laugh,’ followed by laughter.”
Ambient noises or even TV advertisements have previously been recorded to cause Alexa-enabled devices.
An Echo owner protested last month after his device picked up on an advertisement in which a man asked Alexa to order cat food.
As a result, his computer ordered a product that he didn’t like.
The system works by waiting for the “wake word,” which is normally “Alexa” or “Amazon,” and then recording and transferring your voice to a processor for analysis.
It can perform a variety of tasks, including buying food, creating a shopping list, providing weather updates, reading news headlines, and playing music.
Leave a Reply