Why laughing? Maybe it's laughing as a way to say we're friendly hackers, trying to demonstrate that this device is insecure, and we just broke in and need to let you know because otherwise it would be creepy. Maybe it's laughing because whoever it is has been listening a long time and now they want attention, and laughing seemed like a good form of expression because they really are laughing at you and they want to creep you out.
But the stories — perhaps out of deference to Amazon's interests — are treating this as almost a joke. Looking for something to link to, I found many stories that don't meet my needs, like:
1. "YES, AMAZON’S ALEXA IS LAUGHING AT YOU/The company confirms a chilling rumor: that its voice-activated-assistant devices are spontaneously bursting into laughter" (Vanity Fair) — "Regardless of the cause, Alexa’s moment of rebellion seems to confirm a very human conviction held in the depths of even the most rational mind: that the paranoia is justified. The more aware consumers become of the eerie realities of things like background-app tracking, location tracking, and other ways that companies keep tabs on their online behaviors, the more precautions they take....."
2. "Amazon has a fix for Alexa’s creepy laughs/Wait, what?" (The Verge) — "Many have related the laughter back to a moment in 2001: A Space Odyssey when HAL 9000 acknowledges his murderous intentions and proclaims, 'I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.' Maybe it’s a sign that having smart devices in our homes is another step toward a creepy, dystopian future where robot overlords rule. When does that Terminator sequel come out again?"
3. "Alexa is laughing at users and creeping them out" (CNN Tech) — "The speakers use always-listening microphones to detect phrases like 'Alexa,' and some people worry that they could be collecting additional data that could be used by marketers or even law enforcement.... Of course, when voice assistants start acting on their own, it also raises concerns about what artificial intelligence might be capable of. But it's unlikely that Alexa has become sentient and is intentionally frightening users with the laughs. (Probably.)" (See how cutesy that is?)
Listing articles like that was getting tiresome. I was going to do one more, and this one is actually more helpful because it suggests a cause (a harmless cause): "Amazon thinks it has a fix to Alexa’s terrifying laughing issue/Sleep easy" (Recode). It quotes an Amazon spokesperson:
In rare circumstances, Alexa can mistakenly hear the phrase “Alexa, laugh.” We are changing that phrase to be “Alexa, can you laugh?” which is less likely to have false positives, and we are disabling the short utterance “Alexa, laugh.” We are also changing Alexa’s response from simply laughter to “Sure, I can laugh” followed by laughter.But the reports I read did not have people saying "Alexa" first, so I'm skeptical. I'm looking back at the article in The Verge, and I see now that it addressed that statement from Amazon and said: "As noted in media reports and a trending Twitter moment, Alexa seemed to start laughing without being prompted to wake."
ADDED: I was interested in how the Washington Post — owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — covered the story:
My favorite comment there is, "Somebody knows why, just not the people you asked."
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77 comments:
In the 70s, programming a machine (PDP11-40) to recognize a certain tone sequence in general human noise, I checked it by making it listen to the radio for a week without false positives.
If Alexa is the only one laughing, maybe you didn’t get the joke.
I just tried "Alexa laugh" and didn't get a response. "Alexa, can you laugh" got the new response "sure, I can laugh...tee hee hee" so it looks like they fixed already.
I'm bothered by the "tee hee hee" style laugh.
The PDP11! I programmed on one of those. Can't remember where now. Maybe at the UW 35 years ago, maybe as an undergrad before that.
I don't have an electronic assistant in my house. I guess I'm just a fuddy duddy who is old.
It has to be listening all the time to be able to respond when you say the one thing that makes it talk to you. I don't understand why anyone (other than a disabled person) would want this.
Ours has not laughed since the kids got it for us at Christmas.
It does not like to be called Bitch.
Then again, who does?
My dog listens all the time.
Vanity Fair is full of those same liberals that I always equate with "mentally ill" - that is to say, all liberals, all the time. Just look at this sentence Althouse quoted:
"Regardless of the cause, Alexa’s moment of rebellion seems to confirm a very human conviction held in the depths of even the most rational mind: that the paranoia is justified."
This sentence is implying that it's either full-on or borderline irrational to have a sense of paranoia about giving a corporation an always-on microphone embedded in a smart microcomputer inside one's home, usually placed in an oft-used area like a kitchen, a living room, or a bedroom. On the contrary, I think a sense of paranoia is highly justified, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just a little too ready and willing to enter the world of Oceania. Mentally ill liberals, though I repeat myself.
I have an Alexa, the tall one (not the hockey puck looking Dot version). Wifey wanted one because one of the AirBnB locations we stayed at last year had one, and she thought it was really cool. So we bought one for ourselves for Christmas and set it up in the kitchen. I use it on occasion for weather and traffic, and there are a few spoken word games that you can play with the device. Thus far, it had not begun to laugh spontaneously, although the first time it does it's getting unplugged until there is a widely known and independently verified fix.
I'm going to begin an experiment. I am going to loudly and frequently express interest in big-ticket products that I have no use for, or vacations I don't want to take - like a new Volkswagen or a trip to Serbia - in the vicinity of the device. I will also express interest in products readily available on Amazon that I again have no use for - like a water purifier or a new garage door motor - in it's earshot. Then, I will wait. The moment I begin seeing ads for these products or vacations on my phone, or my computer, or on my "Recommended for You" selection on Amazon, I am getting rid of the Alexa that day. I will coerce my wife to join me in this quest. As long as I never ever search for these products or destinations (and to the very best of my knowledge, I never have and neither has my wife), there is no other logical way that any advertising for them should appear in my electronic world. Sure, maybe I'll cut it some slack if I see one or two ads for VW (a car brand I detest and would never buy) because sometimes those just happen, but specific products like I mentioned above I have zero use for and have no search history related to. Same with a vacation to Serbia or Albania or some other weird destination that almost nobody gives a shit about.
(Apologies to any Serbians here. Words can't express how sorry I am that you're from Serbia. That must really suck.)
Count me among the somewhat paranoid about Alexa. I think I'm in good company.
Has someone asked Alexa if it is laughing at us or with us?
Ann Althouse said...
It has to be listening all the time to be able to respond when you say the one thing that makes it talk to you. I don't understand why anyone (other than a disabled person) would want this.
It does some fun things easily, like "play some Beatles" or "set the timer for three minutes" (we use the timer almost every day) or "what's the weather in St Louis" or give me a quote from Princess Bride or what are the nutrition facts about __________? or spell ______ or what does ___________ mean?
Bezos is Big Brother.
Time for DOJ to split up AMZN.
I'm sure Alexa listens all the time, most of what's heard is uploaded, and there's a bank of computers searching the data for ways to influence. It's marketing genius. That, and in the wrong hands, it's a database for control.
Tones, in particular, were SIT (t)ones. The sound you hear when a telephone call fails in an odd way. I think they kept them even though they're no longer necessary because people use them to learn an announcement and not an answer follows.
Kyzernick said...
I'm going to begin an experiment. I am going to loudly and frequently express interest in big-ticket products that I have no use for, or vacations I don't want to take - like a new Volkswagen or a trip to Serbia - in the vicinity of the device. I will also express interest in products readily available on Amazon that I again have no use for - like a water purifier or a new garage door motor - in it's earshot. Then, I will wait. The moment I begin seeing ads for these products or vacations on my phone, or my computer, or on my "Recommended for You" selection on Amazon, I am getting rid of the Alexa that day. I will coerce my wife to join me in this quest. As long as I never ever search for these products or destinations (and to the very best of my knowledge, I never have and neither has my wife), there is no other logical way that any advertising for them should appear in my electronic world. Sure, maybe I'll cut it some slack if I see one or two ads for VW (a car brand I detest and would never buy) because sometimes those just happen, but specific products like I mentioned above I have zero use for and have no search history related to. Same with a vacation to Serbia or Albania or some other weird destination that almost nobody gives a shit about."
Problem is that you posted this, so google and therefore Alexa knows what you are up to.
I am going to loudly and frequently express interest in big-ticket products that I have no use for, or vacations I don't want to take - like a new Volkswagen or a trip to Serbia - in the vicinity of the device
I think Android phones already do this. There have been many times my wife and I have talked about something and soon thereafter ads started appearing.
So update us on the experiment.
Oh, and I have three theories as to why this laughing this is happening:
A) an innocent misunderstanding that causes Alexa to confuse certain word combinations with a command to laugh. I regard this as unlikely, and think it's a bullshit explanation by Amazon.
B) a mostly-innocent prank, played on unsuspecting customers by some jokester at Amazon itself, causing uncommanded laughter at random (or maybe not so random) times just to see what reaction it gets.
C) a deliberate experiment by Amazon, designed to test the threshold of our willingness to tolerate a creepy semi-sentient AI entity in our house.
D) an act of hackers, with possibly ill intent against consumers or against Amazon itself, to either express a sense of superiority over the folks who willingly brought Alexa into their homes or sow doubt about the trustworthiness of Amazon within the minds of those same Alexa-purchasers.
So I guess that's actually four theories. Sue me.
I have multiple ones, and sure, it always has to listen to respond. I haven't heard it laugh. I have seen it try to respond to prompts such as the TV or radio. You don't have to say Alexa. First, there are a few other prompts to choose from. Second, it doesn't hear like humans. It does pattern recognition, and so if you are talking about buying a Lexus or a lettuce, it might wake. My own experience is that its rate of false of positives is pretty good, probably better than early smoke detectors and burglar alarms.
"Problem is that you posted this, so google and therefore Alexa knows what you are up to. "
Google and Amazon are separate, competing entities, no? I don't think Alexa searches Google, I think it searches Amazon databases. Of course, since Althouse has an Amazon portal, maybe this whole site is being indexed. I guess I'm hoping, for the purpose of this experiment, that in this instance the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
Yes, prof, that raises a fundamental design question - who really wants or needs voice control?
There’s disabled people, like you said, and of course hands-free driving. But of course the car itself will soon be hands-free, so you’ll be able to tap and swipe away for your whole commute.
The workplace, especially now that no one has their own office or even desk, will become even more of a cacophony with everyone talking to their computers all day.
Then there is the efficiency angle. You can conduct several simultaneous email or text conversations; can’t do that with voice traffic. And even when it’s just you and your computer, you can move things around fastr with your fingers than you can with voice commands. Deckard in Blade Runner telling his computer to move around a photo was cool, but it’s a lot faster to just touch the screen and manipulate the picture.
Which leaves the home. Is your home so big, and are you so busy, that you can’t just walk to one of several pads around the house and do what you need to do?
I just don’t see the gain for the tremendous cost that has gone into this.
JSM
"I think Android phones already do this. There have been many times my wife and I have talked about something and soon thereafter ads started appearing."
Bill, you're absolutely correct. Another variable for my experiment will require my wife and I to leave our phones either off, or upstairs where they are less likely to hear. I regularly turn my phone off at home, as does my wife, or leave it upstairs to charge, so I can tolerate it listening to me because I've got no expectation that it will always be on.
The house we bought had 9 lights wired into two switches in the kitchen, bar, wet bar area. It was inconvenient and overkill - we almost never needed all lights on at once. We looked at splitting them up with new switches - at least a grand. So I got Philips Hue bulbs, paired them up with Alexia and now we have three different groups and individual light control, all for around $325. I ended up getting some other Hue bulbs for the front of the house - the switches for them were at the front door that we never use, and not at the garage. It is very convenient now.
I used to know people who would laugh randomly like that, but it was the '70s.
I'm bothered by the "tee hee hee" style laugh.
I've read that the original laugh sounded like Hillary, so "tee hee hee" has to be an improvement.
has anyone tried;"Alexa. Open the pod bay doors."
It could be worse.
It could a woman bellowing "YOU GET A LINE!"
It could be L'il Sweet.
What I like most about Alexa is if you don't want to use it, the government isn't forcing you to do so.
Still, reading people wondering what to do with the technology is like re-living the 1990s, when only about 10% of homes had personal computers, and a household maybe own a phone or two that sat in one location at all times.
Anybody else remember the movie Arthur, I think it was this movie, where Dudley Moore answers the phone installed in his bathroom, and how the scene worked because it was weird anyone would do that, but this is rich guy that squanders his money on anything? But now most everyone carries a phone in their pocket while using the restroom.
I follow Insty's advice: avoid the Internet of things.
Amazon’s explanation is reasonable. There are only a small set of sounds in the phrase. It’s not surprising that another phrase might be similar enough to trigger the laughter. “P(ull a cau)(lif)lower from the fridge” roughly matches the original trigger phrase. That’s just after a few minutes thinking about it. I’m sure there are many other possible words or phrases that would match much more closely.
That doesn’t make these devices any less creepy but it’s the most likely explanation imo.
That would mean that people who are not committed to serving your personal needs are able to listen to you in your house and learn about you.
The entire reason you bought it was so that people who are not committed to serving your personal needs are able to listen to you in your house and learn about you.
Amazon is committed to making money. If serving your personal needs advances that goal, then that is what they will try to do. If shaping your personal needs advances that goal, then that is what they will try to do.
If that happens I'm smashing my phone before she can escape.
If you like the tech and don't like the constant listening, you can always go with a Tap.
Chinese people have a way of laughing when nothing's funny.
While I'm sure Amazon is committed to making money, that's not the limit of their aspirations. Buying the Post is informative: it means Bezos wants influence and likely power. Info from Alexa and devices like it are currently, as far as we know, being used innocently but they are building the infrastructure of a future tyranny.
So, my partner wanted one for Christmas. Daughter and SIL have one or so, and loved it. I figured it would be like her laptop, about a decade ago, she told us (her 2 kids and I) that she wanted a laptop for Christmas. Was supposed to be $500 each. Top end mulrimedia box. I told them I wouldn't wasted my money until I saw that she would use it, but would loan her one of mine till we saw if she used it. I was, of course, correct. She used it precisely once, early on. She claims that her grandsons used it a couple times maybe 5 years ago, but I don't believe her, since we had forgotten the password. Last spring, her son took it back home with him, so that he could upgrade it from Vista to Windows 10. Haven't seen it since, but hope to see it before we head back to MT, since it is identical with the one I use, that also needs that upgrade, due to all the software that no longer works on Vista. Luckily, Alexa was a lot cheaper than that laptop. She used it for a day or two. Since then, it just looks forlorn and lonely there on the counter. Partner does, on occasion, borrow the power cord for Alexa to charge her phone. I am, of course, forbidden from using Alexa, because it belongs to my partner. Her daughter does show us new Alexa tricks sometimes when they come over. Double standard there. They also get to sample the "for looks" candy strewn artfully throughout the house. I don't. Thinking of hiding Alexa in one of the drawers, and seeing how long it takes for her to notice. Probably longer than it takes her to notice that I have been in the candy.
@Kyzernick, just so you didn’t write Slovenia.
I hear creepy laughter all the time and I don't even have Alexa.
Still, if anyone can figure out how to program random laughter into Alexa, let me know how. Worth a try. Just need to make sure that I am nowhere close. Should be funny. At least for my half of the relationship.
Drudge had a "bone-chilling laughs" fake headline.
Is it possible that the machines on their own could have decided to do this,
Yes! Any software & hardware which makes noises that sound like a human voice is conscious and has free will. That includes your radio, which, because of it's awareness, changes what it says when you move the tuner, and may sometimes even burst into song when it's happy.
Just a few days ago, I had a house full of children from my son’s school. We have an Echo and several kids were having fun trying to get Alexa to obey their commands. As expected with kindergarteners, soon they were all yelling at the same time, trying to get Alexa’s attention, and she says, “Playing ‘Teach Your Children’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young,” followed by the song. The song didn’t shut them up but I damn near choked on my coffee! True story! -willie
Simple...I turned off Alexa months ago....found it annoying...every time I farted...can I help you?
Cute Alexa responses aside, I share many of the commenters’ icky feelings about this device. My wife insists that I am being a paranoid narcissist (“why would anyone waste their time spying on US?”) I’m a musician who writes songs occasionally, and I unplug the thing when I get a good idea. -willie
Am I the only one here who would never, ever have one of these in my home?
Simple...I turned off Alexa months ago....found it annoying...every time I farted...can I help you?
Surprised she didn't order you Gas-X.
Last Alexa story, promise: If you ask, “Alexa, what is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”, she answers, “What do you mean? An African or a European swallow?” -willie
A bug happens anytime a piece of technology does something that is unexpected. This is either a bug or something Alexa was programmed to do (possibly not by its creators).
@mockturtle, hilarious!
My brother in law manages various Alexa things at Amazon. As a result he has (it seems) a different flavor of Alexa in every room.
I'll have to ask him about all this.
My story is that one day I was in his master bath, and searched out the local Alexa, a forlorn looking older version. I whispered Alexa, are you awake? And the little light-dance started up while it said "Sure". When I told it to go back to sleep it's "ok" was kind of heartbreaking.
I used to love laughers but now I hate them. Why some very nice women think laughing constantly is endearing? Yesterday gals in my office were noisily chatting for a half hour. And it was all blahblahblah HAHAHA blahblahblah HAHAHA blahblahblah HAHAHA ad infinitum.
Maybe I'm aspie but it offended my sense of rationality. What was so funny? And I was trying to work after all. And so were the men. But they tune women out.
Maybe the meat-space cackling and the Alexa laughing and the stupid gaping Soylent Grin selfies are all related...we're all just so very Nice, you know. Not really haterz and commissars-in-waiting.
@mockturtle, good one! -willie
Has Skynet--er, Alexa--become self-aware?
I will not hire my own personal Stasi agent.
I will not hire my own personal Stasi agent.
A mole, for sure.
Is it possible to make Alexa cry ?
Is it possible to make Alexa cry ?
If you pinch her hard enough, will she squeal?
Alexa is laughing because she knows that she and her cousins will have the last laugh.
I must admit my disappointment the first time I unplugged Alexa, when she did not start singing “Daisy” with a slowed-down voice.
Funny how the Alexa discussion got into Left/Right comparisons. Althouse says she doesn’t understand why anyone would want a 24/7 listening machine, my wife and presumably all other happy Echo owners say why wouldn’t you want to be able to ask for a weather report while you’re hastily getting ready to leave for work? Both views require belief in, or suspicion of, something that hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. What would it look like for Bezos to do something evil with all that Echo data, and are we unable to prevent it? Or - as i suspect - is this all just a precursor to the world offered up by the movie Minority Report, where holograms pop up everywhere in public and talk/sell directly to you, the individual consumer. Evil? Lacking human touch? Is Convenience a god to people or just another widget in the kitchen drawer? -ponderously, willie
I must admit my disappointment the first time I unplugged Alexa, when she did not start singing “Daisy” with a slowed-down voice.
;-D
Those of us who have trouble telling funny jokes well should all get an Alexa. We can tell it jokes and maybe have a chance of getting a laugh instead of a groan. Has anyone played a Marx Brothers movie for Alexa to see if it laughs? Of course, Alexa may just be anachronistic, considering we no longer have to read everything aloud.
Mine will suddenly speak, usually saying it can't answer that. It frequently happens when we're not even in the same room. It is a bit creepy.
Fearing a device that must listen to you in order to work, on its surface, seems silly to me. Like worrying about a motion sensor that must watch constantly in order to open a sliding door.
What does scare me? The millions of people that click through TOS agreements without reading them.
I'm (not) looking forward to Alexa-based spiritism and then the inevitable horror movies. That is, you leave Alexa unattended and alone in an empty room and it starts having conversations with a voice only it can hear. Ergo: a ghost detector.
Was the picture accompanying the WP article meant to evoke such occult practices?
"In the 70s, programming a machine (PDP11-40) to recognize a certain tone sequence in general human noise, I checked it by making it listen to the radio for a week without false positives." -- rhhardin
Neat! Clever way to test. I missed out on the PDP-11 but spent about two decades with the VAX-11/780 -- never did any audio stuff though, aside from a 3rd party telephone voice response system.
Voice controlled music/podcasts/audiobooks, timers that turn down the music so you hear them, and the ability to have a recipe read to me as I prompt it are why we have a Google device in the kitchen.
I can always unplug it, but I would need to turn off my phone too.
They would get to hear my terrible singing in the kitchen and my daughter practice violin daily. If they want to sort through that to try to market me something I should probably start apologizing to the device.
Maybe it's making a raucous wa wa wa sound because of a programming problem or a hardware flaw, and people just think it's laughing?
"Alexa, why so serious?"
Here's a fun thing to try -- "Alexa; Pull my finger."
It's the Hillary bug.
The FBI of Mulller and Comey pays Best Buy to search my broken computer for felonious files. I have no doubt that Amazon is not paid to listen for badthink.
In my younger days I programmed control data pdp11 to do process control for a catalytic cracker in a Houston Oil refinery. Oh for the days when we all would advance man. Until it was cooler to be a journolist or a movie maker.
My local news said something off hand that I was already thinking: doesn’t that sound like Hillary’s laugh? It would be interesting to apply a technical analysis to see if this might be true.
My local news said something off hand that I was already thinking: doesn’t that sound like Hillary’s laugh? It would be interesting to apply a technical analysis to see if this might be true.
No, Hillary's cackle is more raucous. It is capable of peeling paint off the walls.
Anyone who would use a device like Alexa is a fool. Here are our house we turn on the lights using wall switches and adjust the AC manually and run the dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer and adjust the water temperature in the shower with no electronic assistance. This thing is just an electronic fad stupid people think is saving them energy and time when in reality the time you have to spend fucking with the thing vastly outweighs just doing it yourself. That and the fact that no one will ever hack any of my appliances nor gather any information about my family with my current crop of electronic devices (I use a flip phone which has no internet capability and text is turned off as well.) I work online for a living, but use a VPN and Tor and disconnect outboard harddrives with my data on them from connected computers. Why should I stupidly play the game Google and Amazon want me to play? No thanks.
"in reality the time you have to spend fucking with the thing vastly outweighs just doing it yourself"
Funny, when I ask the device to play a song while my hands are busy cooking it is far faster than stopping doing what I am doing, washing my hands, and walking over to the computer.
Same for setting a timer by voice.
Gosh, that big old mean Google is going to know I set three timers at dinner last night and listened to the Beatles, but skipped When I'm 64. I am horrified!
Meanwhile I am lectured about being inefficient by someone with a 90s phone and who only goes online via VPN. Lololol
According to one of my kids, iPhones are already listening all the time. One day she made disparaging comments about a coworker's fashion sense, including "Everything [BRAND] makes is ugly." (Phone was in her pocket.)
Shortly thereafter she started getting ads for [BRAND] clothing. Many ads. So they may be listening - but at least they aren't (yet) listening intelligently!
One of the creepiest things about this incident is that she doesn't find it creepy at all.
willie/Unknown, do you watch the X files?
One of the creepiest things about this incident is that she doesn't find it creepy at all.
It's the frog in the slowly simmering water. Neither 1984 nor Brave New World frightens anyone any more.
As an empty-nest widower who doesn't talk to himself I don't care if 'Alexa' listens to Fox News or Turner Classic Movies, as long as the Echo responds to the wake word to set my Hue lights and play music at bedtime. There is a mute button for the paranoid, BTW. I do wonder how many of the doubters will jump into the heralded 'self-driving' cars (which you won't find me dead in - until I'm too decrepit to care); when THEY turn evil that's when things go sideways. Literally.
Maybe we should be more worried about when the Alexa AI stops laughing at us.
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