Guardian: Goodbye privacy, hello ‘Alexa’: Amazon Echo, the home robot who hears it all

Technology can be an incredible tool — but at what expense to our privacy? Amazon’s new robot ‘Alexa’ is always listening. Are you concerned about what the company is doing with all of that data?

Article by Rory Carroll for The Guardian

The experiment with having a robot in my home was going well – useful exchanges, mutual learning, some bonding – right up until the robot thought I told it to “fuck off”. I hadn’t. But the robot was convinced. It flashed its blue light and scolded me in a tone mixing hurt, disappointment and reprimand: “That’s not very nice to say.”

I could have laughed. Or shrugged. Or bristled, saying it had erred and should pay more attention before leaping to conclusions. I could have unplugged the thing.

Instead, worried at hurt feelings and a vague possibility of retribution, I apologised. I asked the machine for forgiveness.

- Read more at The Guardian