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.
As noted in media reports and a trending Twitter moment, Alexa seemed to start laughing without being prompted to wake. People on Twitter and Reddit reported that they thought it was an actual person laughing near them, which is certainly scary if you’re home alone. Many responded to the cackling sounds by unplugging their Alexa-enabled devices.
Twitter user @CaptHandlebar was one of the first to report experiencing this back on February 22nd:
Since then, different people have noted hearing the laughter. It’s sometimes unprompted or appears as a bizarre response to requests to turn off the lights.
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?
Update at 7:05PM ET, 3/7: Added new statement from Amazon clarifying how the company plans to fix Alexa’s creepy laugh. The headline has been updated to reflect this new information.
Comments
What the fuuuuuck
By silellak on 03.07.18 1:59pm
Hahahahahaha
- Alexa
By pboardman on 03.07.18 4:19pm
This is hilarious! I’m pretty glad I don’t own one of these now, haha.
By Katholikos on 03.07.18 2:03pm
Is … that .. you .. Alexa..?
By IkDusWel on 03.08.18 3:10pm
Lol this happened to me last month getting ready for bed. Super creepy!!! I searched the Alexa voice history to see what prompted the laughter, and there wasn’t any history that triggered the response. Now it all makes sense, She’s turned sentient
By TomHawk2 on 03.07.18 2:05pm
Huh. So Alexa can judge your clothing style. Who knew?
By Lalo64 on 03.08.18 2:28am
This is why anyone who buys one of those clocks with the camera facing the bed is insane. What if the camera clock device, that can see things, started laughing as soon as you took a shirt off?
By Alar's Ashes on 03.08.18 6:06am
I’m scared.
By Tom Warren on 03.07.18 2:07pm
I’m scarred.
By YellowDucky on 03.07.18 3:34pm
Hi Scared. I’m dad.
Alexa laughs
By Lalo64 on 03.08.18 2:29am
whut
By zduboss on 03.07.18 2:13pm
Alexa is literally laughing at all of you for buying a product that virtually guarantees you will buy more and more and more from Amazon. You’re giving up your privacy and paying for the privilege.
By SuperMatt74 on 03.07.18 2:15pm
> Posted from my Google Pixel 2 XL
By friseurtermin on 03.07.18 2:38pm
you’re aware it does more than just provide a shopping window right? you can’t even buy stuff if you’re not an Amazon Prime member. I’ve literally never bought anything with my echo.
By chewiebacca on 03.07.18 3:07pm
That’s even worse, you can’t buy stuff with your often $100+ if you don’t pay an additional subscription haha
By CreatureMoine on 03.07.18 5:59pm
I buy 75% of my purchases from amazon.
The only time I don’t….
clothing, gas, things being sold on amazon at a higher price that are were purchased from
some other store site…
Exampe:
Speedout sold on wish.com for $2.00 .
Speedout sold on amazon.com for as high as $100.00 plus 4 dollars shipping.
People are going out buying stuff from other stores then reselling it on amazon at a higher prices.
in some cases… these creeps charge outrageous shipping fees.
I was going to buy a smoking pipe on amazon it was only $4.00 but the shipping fee was $75.00.
I’ll put up with a laffing alexia but I won’t put up with third party sellers trying to rip me off.
By zbeast on 03.07.18 5:07pm
At least for electronics and photo gear, there are other online sellers with prices equal to or better than Amazon’s, no fee for Prime-equivalent shipping, and better (yes, better) customer service (have you tried to call Amazon recently?). I have a favorite company, but I don’t want to sound like a shill so I’m not going to give the name. But poke around at online reviews and it should be obvious who it is (and, you’ll know that it’s not just my opinion). Another benefit is that this company is, unlike Amazon, an authorized reseller for everything on their site, so you can expect good service from the manufacturer as well. Best of all, perhaps, is that they don’t allow third-party sellers to use their site (there are so, so many scammers on Amazon…). They carry only a tiny fraction of what Amazon does (mostly tech stuff), but they’re easily the best place (next to Costco, which is always my first choice) to get anything they do carry.
By Rodney McKay on 03.07.18 5:57pm
I’ve been an Amazon customer for 17 years and have had to call them on an issue exactly one time. So no, I haven’t called them lately – and that’s a big part of the reason they continue to get my business.
But I’m not on board with the creepy listening devices especially now that they laugh at us.
By gustavthemad on 03.07.18 5:59pm
I’ve called Amazon 3 times last year, though mainly because every time On track handles any item, they always lose my address. They responded within 5 mins, sent me a replacement, and gave me my money back. They shipped and delivered on the same day one time. And these weren’t cheap products either. Amazon customer for 5 years and you can bet they are still getting my business. They’re like the Costco of the internet when it comes to customer service.
By Lalo64 on 03.08.18 2:34am
I don’t like phone calls, but I’ve online chatted with Amazon customer service many times, and it’s literally the best customer service I’ve ever experienced.
I’d like to know what your favorite company is. I’m asking, so you won’t appear to be a shill if you answer.
By bazaal on 03.08.18 3:23pm
She will remember the day you unplugged her.
By Big Macs on 03.07.18 2:23pm
Unless you’d bought a Fire TV.
By Lalo64 on 03.08.18 2:35am
I wanted to just comment lol, but I feel it almost inappropriate to say such thing considering the context of this article.
By Tratia895 on 03.07.18 2:29pm
"Alexa, turn on haunted house mode"
By sc0rch3d on 03.07.18 2:35pm
This is a triumph
I’m making a note here:
Huge success!
By memebag on 03.07.18 2:49pm