Amazon Alexa virtual assistant

Alexa is a 'virtual assistant' developed by Amazon uses natural language processing and speech recognition technologies to enable users to ask questions and receive answers, get traffic alerts, set alarms, make lists, play music, and other things. 

Launched in 2014 and available in multiple countries and languages, Alexa was first used in Amazon's Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers, and later in its Echo Studio and other products.

Incidents 🔥

Alexa is seen to pose a wide range of potential risks and caused actual harms to its users. These include the unreliability and inappropriate behaviour of its product, opaque governance, supply chain management and the abuse of privacy, inadequate safety and security, and perceived gender and racial stereotyping and bias.

• Amazon Alexa says 2020 US election was rigged

• Amazon Alexa recommends girl touches electric plug

• Amazon Alexa plays child pornography

• Amazon employees listen to Alexa recordings

• Amazon Alexa mistakenly orders USD 160 dollhouse

• Amazon wrongly disables Echo account after hearing racial slur

• Amazon Alexa holds 2am party when owner is out

• Amazon Echo voice data used to target ads

• Amazon Alexa reinforces female stereotyping

• TV advert makes Amazon Alexa order cat food

• Amazon Alexa mistakes conversation for command

• Amazon Alexa retains recordings, transcripts indefinitely

• Amazon uses Alexa child data to tune voice algorithm

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Ofcom/Community Research (2022). Smart speakers research with the public (pdf)

• Iqbal U. et al (2022). Your Echos are Heard: Tracking, Profiling, and Ad Targeting in the Amazon Smart Speaker Ecosystem

• Mavrina L. et al (2022). “Alexa, You're Really Stupid”: A Longitudinal Field Study on Communication Breakdowns Between Family Members and a Voice Assistant

• Wilson C. (2020). Dangerous Skills Got Certified: Measuring the Trustworthiness of Amazon Alexa Platform (pdf)

• UNESCO (2019). I'd blush if I could: closing gender divides in digital skills through education