It’s a trivial request that could have resulted in a serious accident on Boxing Day. A 10-year-old American girl, who played with her family to challenge herself, turned to Alexa, the artificial intelligence of Amazon to come up with a new idea. “The challenge is simple. Push your phone charger halfway into a wall outlet, then stick a coin on the tips that still stick out, ”replied the connected speaker.
It is the mother of the little girl who reported the incident on Twitter on Sunday, reports our colleagues from Numerama. “My 10-year-old asked Alexa to give her a challenge and this is what she replied, oh my God,” she explained on the social network, illustrating her words with a capture of voice assistant screen and conversation history.
OMFG My 10 year old just asked Alexa on our Echo for a challenge and this is what she said. pic.twitter.com/HgGgrLbdS8
– Kristin Livdahl (@klivdahl) December 26, 2021
Alexa inspired by the “Penny Challenge”?
“We were doing physical challenges inside, like lying on the floor and rolling around while holding your foot with your hand, which we had seen in a YouTube video of a PE teacher. early. She just wanted an additional challenge, ”detailed the mother of the child.
Alexa’s algorithm could have been inspired by the “Penny Challenge”, which appeared on the video-sharing social network TikTok in the summer of 2020. This one encouraged Internet users to affix coins to electrical tips in order to cause sparks.
For its part, Amazon, through a statement sent to CTVNews, claimed to have updated its audio assistant: ” […] Alexa was designed to provide precise, relevant and useful information to customers. As soon as we became aware of this error, we acted quickly. “
