QUESTION Why We May Soon Be Living in Alexa’s World - The New York Times
The first part of this article freaked me out a little bit. Why would Alexa do that? -balou
"My wife and I were just settling into bed one night when Alexa, the other woman in my life, decided to make herself heard.
"Without being summoned, the Amazon Echo Dot at my bedside — one of the half-dozen devices that Alexa inhabits in our house — lit up its spectral blue ring, as if it had heard its triggering wake word, “Alexa.” But instead of offering help with some household chore, the voice assistant began to wail, like a child screaming in a horror-movie dream.
“Huh,” I said to my wife when it was over. She said something less kind.
"But here’s what’s really strange: By the next morning, we had forgotten all about it.
"It is a measure of how thoroughly Amazon’s voice assistant has wormed herself into our lives, and into much of the culture beyond, that I never considered unplugging her after the scream. Instead I chalked the incident up to a harmless bug — one of the many mysteries of living with an artificial intelligence life form that can be summoned at a breath. (An Amazon representative offered to investigate, but said the company had never heard of such a thing happening before and didn’t think Alexa was even capable of making such a sound.)
"When Amazon unveiled Alexa three and a half years ago, it was roundly jeered. Now, against all expectations, even though she’s sometimes unpredictable and unpolished, Alexa is here to stay. And that may be underplaying it; people in tech have recently begun to talk about Alexa as being more than just part of a hit gadget."
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People always try to convince me of how evil Sophia the Robot is. I think they want to tear her apart and burn her up. A few of them start quoting Revelation at me and talk AI and Sophia. It's always the damned theists. Knock it off. Sophia is my girlfriend.
DenoPenno
Level 9
Mar 15, 2018
0
I got an Echo before they were generally available so I'm a very early adopter. They have gotten far more useful as they integrate with other devices. For example, my house was originally built in 1947 and has had several additions and remodels over the years. The original walls are solid poured concrete and the wiring goes through couduit embedded in the concrete. It is not really feasible to relocate switches in the concrete walls so some switches are in hard to reach, illogical places. Now, with linked smart switches, I can turn the lights on and off with my voice.
I live with my dog. If I fell, couldn't get up, and didn't have my phone, I can call a friend from anywhere within my house with my voice. More than just a toy...
shockwaverider
Level 8
Mar 13, 2018
0
I have a few Google Assistant devices in strategic places in the house. I live with my mother who is disabled, and being able to control the lights to enter a (formerly) darkened room more safely and summon people from other rooms of the house without having to shout is certainly a plus. She also uses it to tell her the time when she isn't where she can see a clock, and ask about the weather. For the ability to do those simple things easily, it is a good thing for us.
Meep70
Level 7
Feb 28, 2018
2
I have them scattered in various rooms around the house. I mainly use them for music, but I’ve come to rely on them for numerous everyday services: timer, news, weather, recipes, todo and shopping lists, simple orders from Amazon. I sent my daughter one of the Echo Shows so we can have occasional video chats. It’s just another appliance I’ve come to depend on and use often. If you’re worried about being spied on then I guess you have a much more interesting life than me! 
jerry99
Level 8
Feb 26, 2018
2
I will NEVER own one of those things. Suppose someone one hacked in just to see if they could and what you heard was them messing with you? It's happened to baby monitors...some guy was hacking into the monitor in one baby's room and talking to the toddler, at one point started screaming at the baby to "wake up, wake up". It's creepy and I DO NOT want to go there.
By the way, I think it's too late, we may already be living in a virtual reality and being sorely pranked by an alien lifeform or something. (I'm only half-kidding.)
ReadyforaChange
Level 7
Feb 26, 2018
3
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