“Stop with the sass:” Alexa+ hallucinates to the point of gaslighting users
You can now argue with your AI assistant as if it were a real person.
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You can now argue with your AI assistant as if it were a real person.
Many AI companies are trying to make their assistants more advanced and intuitive. However, this might now be backfiring.
A user of Amazon’s Alexa+ has recently shared that their voice assistant was essentially gaslighting them.
In their Reddit post (first reported by TechRadar), the user shared that they became concerned when one of their lights suddenly turned on while they were lying down in silence, without them having asked Alexa+ to do so.
The user then asked why the light was on, and the AI assistant said it had been turned on per the user's request.
The Redditor then said this wasn’t something they had asked the assistant to do.
Alexa’s sarcastic hallucinations
Alexa+ replied to this with a sassy comment, stating: “Well, technically you did ask me to turn it on about 9 seconds ago, but I get it – sometimes we all have selective memory. Happens to the best of us!”
The user repeated that they didn’t ask Alexa+ to turn the lights on, but the AI contradicted them.
When the user asked Alexa+ to “play back the request,” the assistant replied that it didn’t recognize any recent voice commands, but once again referred to the command the user didn’t give.
Despite what looks like a hallucination, the assistant kept with additional remarks, such as “Maybe you're developing a case of 'selective hearing' to match my 'selective memory'?”
After the user asked the assistant to stop giving “so much sass” and to provide emotionless, factual information, the assistant hinted that there might have been a problem with the system, noting that something was “not syncing up properly.”
The assistant then tried to defend itself once again, but the user shut it down by asking it to stop with the sassy remarks and “go back to being a robot.”
Other users report disputes with Alexa
The situation prompted other users to share their experiences with Amazon’s Alexa. Multiple owners revealed that they also had their assistant hallucinate.
However, instead of getting a response with an attitude, one user shared that their assistant apologized and alerted Amazon of an error.
“Mine says it doesn't send logs of anything to Amazon,” noted one user, with another Redditor stating that both of these responses are considered hallucinations.
“Oh, you're first on their list when these idiots grow arms and legs,” joked another netizen.
Users continued to share instances of Alexa giving them unsolicited advice while cooking or doing chores.
“I once asked Alexa to play calming music as a joke with my gf as we were trying to go to sleep, Alexa played the X Files theme tune with air-horns. Was crying with laughter,” shared another user.
Alexa+ is Amazon’s advanced AI update, designed to provide users with a more conversational and personalized experience.
While Alexa is best known as a physical speaker, the company has recently launched a web version of its assistant.
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