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Be careful around the home – children say Alexa has emotions and a mind of its own

<p>Is technology ticklish? Can a smart speaker get scared? And does the robot vacuum mind if you put it in the cupboard when you go on holidays?</p> <div> <p>Psychologists from Duke University in the US asked young children some pretty unusual questions to better understand how they perceive different technologies.</p> <p>The researchers interviewed 127 children aged 4 – 11 years old visiting a science museum with their families. They asked a series of questions seeking children’s opinions on whether technologies – including an Amazon Alexa smart speaker, a Roomba vacuum cleaner and a Nao humanoid robot – can think, feel and act on purpose, and whether it was ok to neglect, yell or mistreat them.</p> <p>In general, the children thought Alexa was more intelligent than a Roomba, but believed neither technology should be yelled at or harmed. </p> <p>Lead author Teresa Flanagan says “even without a body, young children think the Alexa has emotions and a mind.” </p> <p>“Kids don’t seem to think a Roomba has much mental abilities like thinking or feeling,” she says. “But kids still think we should treat it well. We shouldn’t hit or yell at it even if it can’t hear us yelling.”</p> <p>Overall, children rejected the idea that technologies were ticklish and or could feel pain. But they thought Alexa might get upset after someone is mean to it.</p> <p>While all children thought it was wrong to mistreat technology, the survey results suggest the older children were, the more likely they were to consider it slightly more acceptable to harm technology.</p> <p>Children in the study gave different justifications for why they thought it wasn’t ok to hurt technology. One 10-year-old said it was not okay to yell at the technology because, “the microphone sensors might break if you yell too loudly,” whereas another 10-year-old said it was not okay because “the robot will actually feel really sad.”</p> <p>The researchers say the study’s findings offer insights into the evolving relationship between children and technology and raise important questions about the ethical treatment of AI and machines in general. For example, should parents model good behaviour for by thanking technologies for their help?</p> <p>The results are <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/dev0001524" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in <em>Developmental Psychology</em>. </p> </div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/be-careful-around-the-home-children-say-alexa-has-emotions-and-a-mind-of-its-own/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Petra Stock. </em></p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p> </div>

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There is now proof that your smart speaker is eavesdropping on your conversations

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Amazon has confirmed that its smart speaker, the Amazon Echo – also known as “Alexa” – listens to your personal and private conversations.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The company employs thousands of workers to listen to voice recordings that are captured by the company’s Echo “smart” speakers, according to a </span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/is-anyone-listening-to-you-on-alexa-a-global-team-reviews-audio"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bloomberg</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> report.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Millions across the world have been reluctant to use the device for this very reason, and it turns out that someone IS listening to their conversations.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Amazon doesn’t refer to the process as eavesdropping. The company refers to it as the “Alexa voice review process” and uses it to highlight the role that humans play in training software algorithms.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This information helps us train our speech recognition and natural language understanding systems, so Alexa can better understand your requests, and ensure the service works well for everyone,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The audio transcribers, who are comprised of full-time employees at Amazon as well as contractors, told </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bloomberg</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that they reviewed “as many as 1,000 audio clips per shift”. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although some of the employees might find the work mundane, the listeners occasionally pick up on things that the person on the other end would like to remain private, such as a woman singing in her shower off-key and loudly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report from </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bloomberg</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> also revealed that the more amusing (or harder to understand) voice clips get shared amongst the employees via internal chat rooms.</span></p> <p><strong>How to disable this feature</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, disabling this feature is easy. As it’s switched on by default in the Alexa app, this is also the way you turn it off.</span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Open the Alexa app on your phone.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Tap the “Menu” button on the top left of the screen.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Select “Alexa Account”.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Choose “Alexa Privacy”.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Select “Manage how your data improves Alexa”.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Turn off the button next to “Help Develop New Features”.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Turn off the button next to your name under “Use Messages to Improve Transcriptions”.</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite turning off the recording function for Alexa, the company told Bloomberg that its voice recordings may still be analysed as a part of Amazon’s review process.</span></p>

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