Amazons Echo gadgets are doing witchy creepy laughs and disobeying

originally posted by: seattlerat

According to Jeff Bezos, it's a hardware button, and various sources seem to agree from the teardowns A forum post at the EEVblog forums quotes a video featuring Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon: In this video about Jeff Bezos being interviewed by Walter Isaacson at around the 6 min mark, Bezos claims the mute button on the Amazon Echo is physically connected to the mic amplification circuit, making it impossible to enable again via software. This is also supported by a reddit thread in which it is said that "Basically it is a physical analog connection that cuts off circuit flow to the mic." Another commenter added: No voltage to mics when mute is on. You're correct as well about the state of mute being software controllable. That said, the state of the LED under the button is tied electrically to if the mics are on (same circuit), so there's no possible way the mics can be powered without you knowing it.

a reply to: FHomerK

SOURCE

Just like Google told us we could turn off the GPS location tracker in it's Android OS for phones......

Yes.

Facebook isn't spying on you, zuckerberg said so.

Amazon isn't spying on you, Bezos said so.

The government is here to help, because they said so.

Next Halloween, haunted houses will be snatching up those Echo gadgets. Also maybe a new tool for Ghost Hunters.

Amazon announced today that it is releasing a fix for the "creepy" laughter that has been reported:

Over the past few days, users with Alexa-enabled devices have reported hearing strange, unprompted laughter. Amazon responded to the creepiness today in a statement to The Verge, saying, “We’re aware of this and working to fix it.” Later on in the day, Amazon said its planned fix will involve disabling the phrase, “Alexa, laugh,” and changing the command to “Alexa, can you laugh?” The company says the latter phrase is “less likely to have false positives,” or in other words the Alexa software is likely to mistake common words and phrases that sound similar to the one that makes Alexa start laughing. “We are also changing Alexa’s response from simply laughter to ‘Sure, I can laugh,’ followed by laughter,” an Amazon spokesperson said

VERGE SOURCE

a reply to: seattlerat

I wonder if they can fix the other things reported such as whistling and randomly listing off addresses of funeral homes and cemeteries.

originally posted by: MisterSpock
I'm a long time prime customer. I got a first gen Alexa back on the early access program before they were launched. It was an "invite" offer. They were like half price. I ordered it because I was going to use it solely as a Bluetooth speaker. That was like 5 years ago.

So where is it now, sitting in the box since the day I got it. Right where it belongs.

These devices are horrible IMO.

So you bought a device you won't use or you don't even like because it was a half price offer....

a reply to: UKTruth


Thank you for this. This made me LOL IRL.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

I'm thrifty????

But seriously, like I said I bought it as a Bluetooth speaker. I decided not to hook it up due to what I assumed would be a horrible breech of privacy. Lo and behold, I was not surprised as these trickled out and people began to realize what was really going on.

Heh, someone bought one of those the other day and asked me my opinion on them. Told him I had no desire for one as I value my privacy and don't want something that's always listening.

He responded with the usual "It only listens when you tell it to," yadda yadda nonsense. I wanted to laugh so hard at his naivety, but didn't wanna get written up for it. :p

Ah well. It will take something drastic for people to wake up and realize their mistake in letting these things into your home. We've got smart TV's, video game consoles, smart appliances, smart phones... all listening in to us day and night.

Hell with just 'fixing' it, why don't they try explaining who is responsible for it first.....

a reply to: MisterSpock

I was being a smart ass, I told my gf what I wrote and she laughed at me and proceeded to drill me about things I have bought and left unopened in the box.... She had a fair point...

originally posted by: Maverick1
Hell with just 'fixing' it, why don't they try explaining who is responsible for it first.....

It learns from its interactions with people this will happen again and again. Since there will always be people that try to get Alexa to say or do something.

most likely a Russian hacker.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

Has anyone caught this creepy laugh on video or audio recording? I'm not doubting that it's happened, but I just wonder if some people are jumping on the bandwagon and are exaggerating.

Any links to a recording of any of it?

a reply to: KansasGirl

An example of the laughter. First i've heard it and it is indeed creepy.



Amazon has "fixed" the issue of the laughing, but what about the rest of the creepy stuff its doing?

a reply to: KansasGirl

m.youtube.com...

This is the video I found. It sounds like Hillary Clinton's laugh to me.

I told alexa last night "how stupid do I have to be to cut myself?" Jokingly talking to myself/alexa after I sliced my leg open with a razor. Alexa proceeded to give me the suicide hotline number and tell me that I was gonna be alright LOLLLLLL

-Alee

They dont need alexa to spy. Or tvs or phones or spy cameras..

We love ours, great for the kids homework, playing music etc. I'm ready for the voice controlled house, once I have the money of course.

on the few YT presented in the thread already...

I think that the enormous amount of 'directions' barked at the robot devices...serve only to confuse the 'AI' component...

the humans giving commands which run into each other/ conflict with other commands --> the result is that the device is responding in the similar schizophrenic manner as the human spouting out an endless string of commands or requests to the Alexa unit