Amazon Apologizes After Alexa Tells 10-Year-old Girl To Play With Electric Socket

Alexa Amazon Smart Assistant smart gadget TikTok challenge Amazon apologizes Class-action suit Outlet Challenge Massachusetts Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey Amazon Echo Kids Mode on Echo

By Lili Scott , Parent Herald Dec 28, 11:25 pm

Photo: (Photo : GRANT HINDSLEY/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazon has announced that Alexa has been fixed after a mother shared that the smart assistant told her 10-year-old daughter to play with the electric socket by plugging a phone charger halfway through and then touching a penny to it.

The company issued a statement saying that they took "swift action" after becoming aware of the error in Alexa's system that involved a 10-year-old girl. Amazon said that Alexa has been "designed to provide accurate, relevant and helpful" information, but this was not what mom Kristin Livdahl discovered.

Livdahl shared in a Twitter post the exact challenge Alexa wanted her daughter to do when she asked for a game to play because they were cooped indoors due to the bad weather. Alexa found a "penny challenge" that went viral on TikTok in 2020. However, firefighters have warned that the challenge could damage the electrical system and risk a fire and hurt people.

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

Only as Smart as the Internet

Livdahl said that they got the Amazon Echo smart gadget as a gift, which is linked to Alexa, the smart assistant. The mom said that she cut Alexa's instruction to her daughter with a firm "No, Alexa, no!" because she heard everything in the room.

Fortunately for the mom, she said that her daughter is too smart to follow a foolish challenge. Friends told her to enable the kid's mode on the Echo from now on, so she could have better control of the speaker.

Amazon didn't explain why Alexa provided a life-threatening challenge to the 10-year-old girl, but this incident shows that smart assistants are only as knowledgeable as the internet. The gadgets can pull information based on what's online and not based on common sense or common knowledge.

Unfortunately, several TikTok challenges shared online are risky, dangerous, and could put someone in prison. In fact, the viral "Outlet Challenge" saw two teenagers in Massachusetts with an arson record after they tried the game in school and scorched the electrical system. Massachusetts Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey had to release a statement asking parents to talk to their kids and advise them on the stuff they shouldn't follow from the internet.

Class Action Suit Against Alexa

It comes as Amazon has been hit with a class-action suit after Alexa was found to have illegally recorded users without their consent. In a consolidated complaint filed in Washington, D.C., in September 2021, the plaintiffs from several states testified about the illegal recordings and Alexa's "eavesdropping" on conversations.

Amazon, however, has been pushing to end the lawsuit and claimed they didn't violate the Wiretap Act with Alexa's features. The company cited that it could not "intercept" its users' communications. Amazon also stated that it does not disclose to any third party because its gadgets are only intended between the users and the service.