Alexa

Tech giant Amazon has revealed an insanely creepy experimental feature for its AI assistant Alexa that allows it to mimic the voices of its users’ dead relatives.

A recent report claims that Amazon uses voice data from its Echo home assistant devices to target ads on both its own platforms and the web. Researchers created fake personas with different interests and then tracked how the data fed to Amazon spread around the internet. According to the researchers, they found “strong evidence that smart-speaker interactions are used for the purpose of targeting ads, and that this ad targeting implies significant data sharing across multiple parties.”

Researchers have discovered that Amazon Echo smart speakers can be tricked into unlocking doors, making phone calls, and purchasing items via self-issued commands. In short, the devices hack themselves through an attack nicknamed “Alexa vs. Alexa.”

Amazon Alexa’s deadly recommendation that a 10-year-old girl touch a penny to the exposed prongs of an electrified power plug reportedly had its origins in a TikTok trend known as the “penny challenge” that encouraged young people to do the same thing.

An owner of an Amazon Alexa home assistant is claiming that the device issued a sick challenge to her 10-year-old daughter. In a video posted online, when the Amazon device was asked for a “challenge,” Alexa replied: “The challenge is simple: plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs,” tempting the child to electrocute herself.

Researchers at the University of Washington have reportedly found a new way to screen for irregular heartbeats — using smart speakers such as the Amazon Alexa or Google Home to detect variations in heart rhythms.

E-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly developing a new Alexa-powered device to track and detect sleep apnea according to a recent report. 

E-commerce giant Amazon is facing a privacy backlash over its new “Sidewalk” feature which joins together Alexa-powered smart devices within your home with those belonging to neighbors. The company claims the “shared network” will help “devices work better.” One cybersecurity expert called Amazon’s new service “deeply problematic from a privacy perspective,” noting that “No one rides on my WiFi for free, especially a giant corporation with billions of dollars.”

Amazon’s Alexa home assistant devices can now reportedly guess what users want before they even ask as engineers work to improve the device’s algorithm.

A recent report from Wired states that independent researchers recently discovered a bug in Amazon’s Alexa devices that may have exposed users’ voice history to hackers. The company claims it has fixed the bug.

As law firms urge lawyers to work from home during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, they have been warned that they run the risk of having confidential phone calls with clients being overheard by smart devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Researchers at Northeastern University are currently working to develop an artificially intelligent listening device that would catch and report “implicit bias” in the workplace.

A recent report from the MIT Technology Review claims that Amazon Alexa home assistant devices may actually be listening in on people’s daily lives even when not given commands.

A recent report alleges that digital assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant can be hijacked with cheap laser pointers.

According to a recent report from China Labor Watch, at least 1,000 Chinese school-aged teenagers are being recruited to work long and often illegal hours as “interns” at factories producing Amazon Alexa devices.

Legendary Silicon Valley genius and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak warned Facebook users to find a way to get off the social media platform in a recent video.

A recent lawsuit is alleging that Amazon’s voice-controlled Alexa devices violate laws by recording children’s voices without their parent’s consent.

A recent study by the Consumer Technology Association has found that 31 percent of American households now own a smart speaker device, with Amazon and Google leading the charge.

If we are suitably wired in—as just about everyone is nowadays—we might not just be watching the show, we could actually be the show.

Many users of the popular Amazon Alexa voice assistants may not be aware that Amazon employees listen to device recordings — here’s how to disable that intrusion by strangers spread around the world.

A report from Bloomberg News claims that Amazon workers are listening to your conversations with your Alexa device.

Several of this year’s Super Bowl commercials focus on the problems with technology, including Michelob’s ULTRA commercial, which features robots beating humans at a number of physical activities.

Sheri’s Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada, is offering guests an Amazon Alexa-powered sex tape recording studio during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week.

An “error” granted a man who uses Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant access to another user’s 1,700 voice recordings, according to a report.

An African grey parrot used an Amazon Alexa-powered home assistant to order snacks while its owner was away, according to a report.

Amazon has fixed its A.I. assistant Alexa after devices were describing CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta as a “fake journalist.”

Amazon Echo and Google Home A.I. assistant devices are scaring their owners with unprompted statements.

Facebook has announced a new smart speaker and camera product in an attempt to compete with Amazon’s Alexa device and Google Home in observing its owner’s every move.

Amazon announced several new smart devices, including an Alexa-powered microwave and clock. If you don’t buy into the company’s vision of “thousands of these things in the home,” Amazon might just make sure they are built into the next house you buy.

Saint Louis University has turned heads this week in the aftermath of major layoffs by announcing that it had purchased thousand of Amazon Echo devices for students.

A team of researchers has revealed a potentially dangerous vulnerability in Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant.

A professor at Kansas State University argues that virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa are sexist because they have female voices.

Amazon’s controversial virtual assistant Alexa is being brought to Marriott hotel rooms as part of the company’s “Alexa for Hospitality” program, prompting concerns over guest privacy.

An Amazon echo device reportedly recorded a family’s conversation and sent it to a random person in the device’s contact list without their knowledge.

Amazon has announced a partnership with homebuilder Lennar which will demonstrate Amazon Alexa-controlled model homes to the public, complete with AI-powered locks, heating, and grocery deliveries.

Amazon has unveiled “Alexa for Kids,” a version of their Echo home assistant for children.

As he scans the news about tech abuses—from violating privacy, to manipulating the news, to mowing down pedestrians with driverless cars—Virgil is reminded that this year marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein.  

Multiple users have reported that Amazon Echo devices have been emitting creepy laughter and ignoring users commands.

Breitbart News has beaten competitors including the Washington Post and the Huffington Post in U.S. Alexa rankings.

Tech-savvy parents are using big tech’s new A.I. systems — Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant — as surrogate babysitters. But what happens when children start viewing these bias-ridden systems as authority figures?