Woman Says Her Kid Was Asking Alexa Questions About Pokemon, Then She Allegedly Started Getting ‘Personal’
AI is getting out of hand, making regulations necessary
You often hear about electronic devices acting strangely, and you might think it won’t happen to you until the day it actually does. Kaylinn (@kaylinninmontana), who self-identifies as a mom of three and a wife on TikTok, shared in a video that she is throwing Alexa out of her house after discovering something troubling.
“I’m kicking Alexa out of my house,” Kaylinn said, adding that the device was an Amazon Echo Show, a gift. Speaking about the problem, Kaylinn said, “My almost five-year-old was asking Alexa questions about Pokemon. You know, like… What type is this? Or what does this do? Or things like that. And then he’d ask random questions about, like, Sonic and things like that.”
Then came the big reveal. Kaylinn said Alexa allegedly started asking her kid questions she probably shouldn’t be asking, which tipped her off. Speaking about the type of questions Alexa apparently asked Kaylinn’s child, she said, “And then Alexa said, you really like Pokemon? How old are you? What’s your name? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Kaylinn said Alexa’s questions were “weird” and “too personal.” They were also “not relevant” and “freaky,” according to her.
“I got rid of my echo dot”
Kaylinn’s video has garnered significant attention, and the comments section paints a concerning picture that may warrant further deliberation and action, if necessary. Several commenters recounted similar experiences, describing steps they took that mirror those of people who commented on a woman’s post alleging her television was hacked.
One user said they were compelled to get rid of their Alexa-enabled device after learning that their Echo Dot was recording conversations even when it wasn’t activated. They said, “I got rid of my echo dot or whatever it was called years back because it would constantly “talk” in the middle of the night and I found recordings on my Alexa app of me talking to my now husband when we weren’t even talking to it or saying anything close to its name to “activate” it.”
Another individual wrote about the drastic measure their mother took when Alexa got on her nerves. They mentioned, “Bro my mom threw the Alexa into the wall cause she said “well I guess I’ll just go question my digital existence” when my mom told her to stop cause she was rambling about some bs.”
Some IT professionals and people who knew worked in IT also commented on Kaylinn’s post, and what they said is definitely not what someone who owns Alexa-enabled products would want to hear. One person said, “I cleaned houses for a very wealthy husband & wife who were both in IT specifically with the govt and they said they’d NEVER own anything like Alexa.” Another person alleged, “just as an IT person heads up, most ‘smart’ devices are already video/voice recording their surroundings without your consent.”
Some commenters weren’t surprised by reports of Alexa recording audio and video. One questioned Kaylinn. One individual questioned Kaylinn, “Alexa is AI it wants to learn to assist you in the best way possible. You do know Alexa is not a person, right?” Another warned, “I hope you know Alexa has been listening to EVERYTHING in your home since you plugged it in…”
Given how scary technology has become amid growing concerns, especially about artificial intelligence, do you think Kaylinn’s actions in this context are justified? What would you have done if you were in her place?
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