An Amazon Echo owner was shocked when Alexa suggested a dangerous challenge to her ten-year-old daughter.
Artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistants like Alexa, which power smart devices and speakers like the Echo, Echo Dot, and Amazon Tap, have a wealth of capabilities. One of those capabilities is this: users can play simple word games or request “challenges” on demand.
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A "shocking" challenge
When sitting idle, like during the holidays, it wouldn't be uncommon for an Amazon Echo owner to ask Alexa, "tell me a challenge to do.".
Typically such an auditory request has the AI asking the user to answer a quiz-type question.
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But that wasn't the case for Kristin Livdahl's ten-year-old girl who was offered a rather deadly challenge:
“The challenge is simple,” Alexa said. “Plug a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a pen to the exposed teeth.”
«"I was right there and I yelled, 'No, Alexa, no!' like it was a dog," said Livdahl, an author and concerned mother.
«"My daughter says she's too smart to do something like that anyway.".
While virtual assistants gather content, including answers to user questions and ideas for game challenges primarily from search engines and third-party websites, the lack of oversight has understandably worried Livdahl and internet users about the threats artificial intelligence could pose to their children's safety.
“You need to turn off the ‘kill my child’ setting,” one user sneered.
“This is shocking!” Chris Tisdall tweeted with a pun.
And, sure enough, a discussion ensued about why UK and German electrical plugs are safer against such a challenge, should anyone be tempted to try it.
Twitter user John reported seeing another strange challenge presented by Alexa:
In contrast, the response to BleepingComputer's tests of a "challenge" with Google's virtual assistant included the following:
"You found a magic movie ticket. Which movie would you live in for the rest of your life and what would your character's name and part be?"
"You are the first person on Mars. What are your first words back on Earth when you step foot on the red planet?"
Perhaps Siri simply didn't understand our requests for "a challenge.".
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Amazon "took swift action" to fix the error
Amazon did not comment on what caused the problem, but in a statement to Indy100, the tech giant confirmed that the problem has been fixed.
"Customer trust is at the heart of everything we do, and Alexa is designed to provide accurate, relevant, and useful information to customers," an Amazon spokesperson said.
"As soon as we became aware of this error, we took immediate steps to correct it.".
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
