Amazon Finally Fixes Bug That’s Causing Creepy Laughs From Alexa

Thank God I don't own one of these or I probably would have peed myself.

Imagine you're home alone, when suddenly you hear a woman's laughter coming from the other room, only to discover no one's there... No, your place isn't haunted, it's just your Amazon Echo/Dot's Alexa malfunctioning in a profoundly creepy way! Over the past few days, people with Alexa's have reported hearing strange, unprompted laughter coming from their devices and they began to wonder what the heck is going on.

In short, Alexa's software was mistaking common words and phrases that sound similar to the one that makes Alexa start laughing... I know, that doesn't quite solve the mystery as to why she'd start laughing in the middle of the night, but in any case Amazon has now changed the phrase necessary to make Alexa laugh to, “Alexa, can you laugh” which should be less likely to generate random and creepy cackles.

In addition, Alexa will no longer respond to that question with simple laughter but instead will say, “Sure, I can laugh” followed by the laughter.

I'm pretty sure this is how the movie "The Terminator" gets started, but I can't be too sure... Yikes!

(Source: The Washington Post)

In related news: You Can Now Buy An Alexa Enabled Mirror