Started in February, people on social media began reporting a problem with Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated assistant. The “smart” speakers randomly started laughing without a reason.
Here some of the tweets:
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“So Alexa decided to laugh randomly while I was in the kitchen. Freaked @SnootyJuicer and I out. I thought a kid was laughing behind me.”
So Alexa decided to laugh randomly while I was in the kitchen. Freaked @SnootyJuicer and I out. I thought a kid was laughing behind me. pic.twitter.com/6dblzkiQHp
— CaptHandlebar (@CaptHandlebar) February 23, 2018
Lying in bed about to fall asleep when Alexa on my Amazon Echo Dot lets out a very loud and creepy laugh… there’s a good chance I get murdered tonight.
— Gavin Hightower (@GavinHightower) February 26, 2018
Having an office conversation about pretty confidential stuff and Alexa just laughed. Anybody else ever have that?
It didn’t chime as if we had accidentally triggered her to wake. She simply just laughed. It was really creepy.
— David Woodland (@DavidSven) March 1, 2018
Then he added: I asked why she laughed and she said, “Sorry, I am not sure.”
On 5 March Twitter user, Taylor Wade posted her story:
“So my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason. She didn’t even say anything, just laughed.”
Wade unplugged the device to stop Alexa’s laughter
Mine whistled up stairs in my bedroom. No one’s home besides me and my dogs. And my upstairs dog, I call her that because 1 dog stays downstairs at night to sleep on the couch lol. The other comes to bed at night with us. Alexa is in the trash, I thought I was losing my mind.
— The Nasty End Game (@Supermom1242) March 7, 2018
Replying bc THIS creepy thing happened last night: we got home and, totally unprompted, our Amazon Echo/Alexa started talking. And then i realized it was listing off local cemeteries and funeral homes??? I’d rather it laugh at me tbh
— Kamo Boomin (@HeyItsKamo) March 7, 2018
According to the company, the laughs had occurred “in rare circumstances” because the speaker was picking up a “false positive” for the command “Alexa, laugh”.
Amazon spokesperson said: “We’re aware of this and working to fix it.”
