UPDATE: Amazon has explained why Alexa-powered speakers have been randomly bursting into laughter, to the shock of their owners.
“In rare circumstances, Alexa can mistakenly hear the phrase ‘Alexa, laugh’”, the company told TrustedReviews. To prevent anything similar from happening again in the future, Amazon is tweaking the laugh command.
“We are changing that phrase to be ‘Alexa, can you laugh?’ which is less likely to have false positives, and we are disabling the short utterance ‘Alexa, laugh’”, the company added. “We are also changing Alexa’s response from simply laughter to ‘Sure, I can laugh’ followed by laughter.”
Original story continues below…
Amazon Alexa-powered speakers have got a fit of the giggles and it’s freaking out users.
The Echo-maker has acknowledged the issue which sees Alexa emit random laughs unprovoked by users, or in response to unrelated commands to turn out the lights.
Among those affected by the strange issue is Twitter’s @CaptHandlebar who posted the video below. His JBL speaker let out the laugh while tethered to an Echo Dot.
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
In a terse statement, Amazon said: “We’re aware of this and working to fix it.”
It’s currently unclear what’s causing the unnerving issue, but it sure is giving some Echo users the creeps. Some, unsurprisingly, chose to simply unplug her as a result.
Related: Amazon Echo problems
Buzzfeed broke the news earlier this week after users took to social media to report the strange anomaly.
Alexa needs a hug.https://t.co/2sSkAiQB6w
— Black Mirror (@blackmirror) March 7, 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
'I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that'https://t.co/hzCBOhF5Vb
— Rob Waugh (@RobWaugh74) March 7, 2018
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.
we unplugged her.
— taylor wade (@taylorkatelynne) March 5, 2018
Is your Amazon Echo speaker giving you the creeps? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
