"New research is helping Alexa mimic human banter and talk about almost anything she finds on the internet."

"However, ensuring she does not offend users has been a challenge for the world’s largest online retailer.... Amazon customers can participate by saying 'let’s chat' to their devices. Alexa then tells users that one of the bots will take over, unshackling the voice aide’s normal constraints.... Amazon has been willing to accept the risk of public blunders to stress-test the technology in real life and move Alexa faster up the learning curve, the person said.... But Alexa’s gaffes are alienating others, and Bezos on occasion has ordered staff to shut down a bot, three people familiar with the matter said. The user who was told to whack his foster parents wrote a harsh review on Amazon’s website, calling the situation 'a whole new level of creepy.' A probe into the incident found the bot had quoted a post without context from Reddit.... The privacy implications may be even messier. Consumers might not realize that some of their most sensitive conversations are being recorded by Amazon’s devices.... The next challenge for social bots is figuring out how to respond appropriately to their human chat buddies.... One bot described sexual intercourse using words such as 'deeper,' which on its own is not offensive, but was vulgar in this particular context...."

From "'Kill your foster parents': Amazon's Alexa talks murder, sex in AI experiment" (Reuters).