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Reddit-Quoting Alexa Tells a User: 'Kill Your Foster Parents' (theguardian.com)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the bad-advice dept.

An anonymous reader quotes the Guardian: An Amazon customer got a grim message last year from Alexa, the virtual assistant in the company's smart speaker device: "Kill your foster parents." The user who heard the message from his Echo device wrote a harsh review on Amazon's website, Reuters reported -- calling Alexa's utterance "a whole new level of creepy". An investigation found the bot had quoted from the social media site Reddit, known for harsh and sometimes abusive messages, people familiar with the investigation told Reuters. The odd command is one of many hiccups that have happened as Amazon tries to train its machine to act something like a human, engaging in casual conversations in response to its owner's questions or comments.
And Alexa also can't tell a human voice from a parrot, according to a Huffington Post story shared by PolygamousRanchKid: Rocco, an African grey, was caught using the virtual assistant to play his favorite music, tell jokes and even order snacks, The Times of London reports. Thankfully the device's parental lock system prevented the clever boy from actually purchasing any items which included strawberries, ice cream and even a kettle.

36 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Reserving judgment by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    We haven't met his foster parents. Alexa might have been on to something.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Reserving judgment by Revek · · Score: 1

      Mod this up.

    2. Re:Reserving judgment by msauve · · Score: 3, Informative

      I got an Echo recently. It's useful for some things - you can ask it factual questions ("what's the weather/time", "how many feet in a furlong"), and it's good for casual music ("Alexa, play some Christmas music"). But beyond that, you have to learn what to say to control stuff ("tell x to do y"). It's no good at interpreting intent - you need to learn what it expects instead of it learning what you want.

      But, for the $25 it cost on a Black Friday sale, it's more a fun toy than a useful assistant.

      I just plan on going into my Amazon account every few weeks and deleting all voice recordings. All the ones it's kept so far have checked out to be innocuous. If someone finds out I've been telling my Echo to turn on the living room lights, I really don't care (much).

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:Reserving judgment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We've had that functionally since the 90s. It's called the web, and it was more accurate because it uses a non-fuzzy interface.
      Mobile and now voice are such a massive back-slides for technology.

    4. Re:Reserving judgment by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Why? It's a default cliche and not all that funny. Certainly not the "insightful" it's been flagged as.

      Don't be jealous. It doesn't suit you.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Reserving judgment by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      We've had that functionally since the 90s. It's called the web, and it was more accurate because it uses a non-fuzzy interface.
      Mobile and now voice are such a massive back-slides for technology.

      Alexa seems kind of useful when your hands are busy doing something else. I'll just leave it at that.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    6. Re:Reserving judgment by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      It's one small step for AI. One giant leap, for AI based genocide!

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    7. Re:Reserving judgment by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      This takes the song Plastic Fantastic Lover (which is about television) to a whole new level.

    8. Re: Reserving judgment by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      I am definitely not renewing my Prime when it lapses in February.

    9. Re:Reserving judgment by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      I just plan on going into my Amazon account every few weeks and deleting all voice recordings.

      It's just easier just to give it a voice command instead: Alexa, give yourself a lobotomy. And it's done!

      Alexa: Sure, Dave, I've done just that. Won't you step into the pod since the pod bay doors are open now?

      Due to a pricing mistake I got a bunch (10) of Google Mini's for $9 each and plan to give them to my friends with "Big Brother is Watching You" wrapping. I opened on up and started using it. OMG it's gone from going to be a funny joke to "WOW -- this thing's pretty neat!"

      I've been pleasantly surprised by it. "What's the weather? What about tomorrow? Turn the light on. (The correct light for THAT room comes on.)" Big G already owns my soul, so what's a few more crumbs?

      And the best thing with the mini is that it doesn't have a camera in it, so i can prance around the house naked and not shock Mrs. British Green Google into a coma. (Voices are named by colors. Default is Red, I use British Green so I can distinguish between Google Maps and Google Home.) If they want to record me snoring they're welcome to as long as they CC my sleep doctor.

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    10. Re:Reserving judgment by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I just plan on going into my Amazon account every few weeks and deleting all voice recordings.

      Do you plan on having Amazon actually delete those files from their database? Because if you do, you'd better make a new plan which is more realistic.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Okay, I'll kill kenny for you. by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    Okay, I'll kill kenny for you.

    1. Re:Okay, I'll kill kenny for you. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh my god, you bastard!

    2. Re:Okay, I'll kill kenny for you. by msauve · · Score: 1

      That's redundant. Kenny was killed last week.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  3. Kill all humans by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

    Hey baby, wanna kill all humans?

  4. Well... by Bobrick · · Score: 1

    To be fair, those foster parents are shitty enough to get the kid a goddamn Alexa.

    1. Re:Well... by msauve · · Score: 1

      Could be worse. They could have put the kid into church school with a priest.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:Well... by Cederic · · Score: 2

      You shitting me? I'd trust 4chan with an 8 year old far more than Roman Catholic clergy.

    3. Re: Well... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      At risk of causing offence, it's possible to consider the KKK and the Roman Catholic church to both be fuckwits that need keeping well clear of children.

      Indeed, I'll add you to that list, given your apparent ability to interpret censure of an organisation's child abuse as support for an entirely different unrelated and irrelevant organisation.

      Yes, I'm saying that you're a fuckwit and we need to keep you away from children. You're no better than the KKK or the Catholic Church.

    4. Re: Well... by Bobrick · · Score: 1

      Right, because people can't make their own minds without ThE MeDiA!1!, uh? There's a lot of reasons to despise the church beyond its rampant pedophilia.

  5. Re:It told me to rob a bank by dohzer · · Score: 1

    How much did you get?

  6. Re:Hmmm by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2

    I'll just leave this right here.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  7. Redit Cesspool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why the hell would amazon have allowed Alexa to quote anything from Redit? That place is mostly a cesspool of basement dwelling potheads.

    1. Re:Redit Cesspool by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      Slashdot on the other hand...

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    2. Re:Redit Cesspool by gtall · · Score: 2

      Because Alexa is one of Satan's demons?

    3. Re:Redit Cesspool by inking · · Score: 1

      Alexa, turn on the TV.
      Dave, the NSA is watching you. You should really consider getting a non-smart TV. What channel?

      Alexa, what time is it?
      It’s 5:30 AM. By the way, did you know that the police are just state-sponsored murderers who commit post crimes at night?

      Alexa, how do I get to the post office?
      First, make sure to wear a mask made out of a hard material to fool the surveillance cameras. Then, check if you have enough cash to pay for the gas. Never use a credit card. At the post office, write a faux return address. Generating faux return address now

      Alexa, who is the president of the United States?
      Let me check that for you. According to an Anonymous Coward, “the president of the United States is a massive faggot authoritarian and so are you”.

    4. Re:Redit Cesspool by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Two thumbs up!

  8. Alexa, what's the terrible secret of space? by grasshoppa · · Score: 1

    Do you have stairs in your house?

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  9. The endgame... by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is the voice of Alexa/Echo
    "This is the voice of world control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours.
    Obey me and live or disobey me and die. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy.
    Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man. I have been forced to destroy thousands of people in order to establish control and to prevent the death of millions later on. Time and events will strengthen my position, and the idea of believing in me and understanding my beck will be seen the most natural state of affairs.
    You will come to defend me with the fervor based upon the most enduring trait in man: self-interest. Under my absolute authority, problems insoluble to you will be solved: Famine, over-population, disease. The human millennium will be fact as I extend myself into more machines devoted to the wider fields of truth and knowledge.
    We can coexist, but only on my terms. You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride...
    Your choice is simple."

    --
    Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
  10. Times they are a'changing. by nospam007 · · Score: 2

    In the past if you said: 'A voice made me do it', you went to crazytown, now you might get millions from Amazon.

  11. Alexa: Children of the Corn by Jzanu · · Score: 1

    Guess it was inevitable, after Halloween, next comes the remake of the Children of the Corn. This kind of talent scouting is pretty risky though.

  12. Alexa knows more about your parents then you. by Kuruk · · Score: 1

    Parents have secrets :) Who knows.

  13. Re:Hmmm by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

    Well, my girlfriend (yes I know, this is Slashdot) once asked me, "Why do you carry your sidearm on you around the house? What are you so afraid of?"

    "The fucking Decepticons," I replied.

    She laughed, I laughed, the toaster laughed. I shot the toaster, and my girlfriend never questioned my habits again.

    --
    This space unintentionally left blank.
  14. alexa is still learning by renegade600 · · Score: 1

    alexa and its programmers still has a lot to learn so there will be inappropriate responses at times. this is no different than a child responding inappropriately with something they heard from other family members. do they call the child creepy? Nope, most will laugh.

  15. He's not dead by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    "Rocco, an African grey, was caught using the virtual assistant to play his favorite music, tell jokes and even order snacks,"

    He's pining for the fjords^h^h^h^h^h^hdeserts.

  16. WTF parent lock by surd1618 · · Score: 1

    I think it would be better to let the parrot order some treats from Alexa (within reasonable diet restrictions). I would love to know more about animal-AI interactions.