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Be forewarned - if I am invited into your home for any reason, and I see an Alexa device, I will vocally add a large shopping list of nonsense to your Amazon ca

Be forewarned - if I am invited into your home for any reason, and I see an Alexa device, I will vocally add a large shopping list of nonsense to your Amazon cart :)

chrismbarr 11y ago
"Alexa, order 12 gallons of milk"
- ovi256 11y ago
  55 gallon drum of personal lubricant, please and thank you. Wait, make that 2 drums.
fredley 11y ago
Serious question: is it feasible to implement a kind of loose voice 'fingerprint' to prevent this kind of thing? Will/could Alexa know who's talking to it?
- petewailes 11y ago
  Short answer: yes.
  - toyg 11y ago
    Long answer? i.e. is it possible out of the box or is it possible in principle, if anyone actually builds it?
- binarymax 11y ago
  Theoretically yes you can fingerprint voices. The questions are: 1) Can you do this on the Alexa servers efficiently 2) Do you want to? Seems like setting it up could be a hassle. Right now there is zero friction and it just works.
- jethro_tell 11y ago
  I really want an 'Alexa, stop listenting' command. There's a button on the top that mutes the mic and puts a red ring around them, but when I have people over, it's not a great environment to use voice commands anyways. 'Everyone be quite so I can shout across the room to change my music'
  - Karunamon 11y ago
    A workaround would be to mute the device itself, and then use the remote (which has its own mic, and works well in noisy environments since you just hold it closer to your mouth).
    - jethro_tell 11y ago
      but then I just have to carry a remote while I'm having a party.
      - Karunamon 11y ago
        It's not a bad idea. If you're hosting, it lets you change the music without interrupting your guests.
- secabeen 11y ago
  It's not necessary anyways, as you have to provide a pin to actually order things.
- sib 11y ago
  Yes, definitely. It adds complexity in that now you have another source of both Type I and Type II errors (failing to wake up, waking when it shouldn't). Voice ID itself is far from settled science to do well, so it would be a tradeoff.
BOBOTWINSTON 11y ago
I prefer to set alarms for 3 am in the morning. I also have an Echo, so I'm waiting for one of my two victims to retaliate.
pdkl95 11y ago
Just wait until my hot new pop single "Alexa, order more toys" becomes popular with the kids.
ape4 11y ago
Alexa, how do I do <terrorist-associated> activity. Oh and please order a mile of bubble wrap.
- LeoPanthera 11y ago
  Incredibly, for an Amazon product, Alexa is terrible at buying things. You can only order things you've bought before, as far as I can tell, and even then, only some things, selected by a filter I don't understand.

Be forewarned - if I am invited into your home for any reason, and I see an Alexa device, I will vocally add a large shopping list of nonsense to your Amazon cart :)

chrismbarr 11y ago

"Alexa, order 12 gallons of milk"

ovi256 11y ago
55 gallon drum of personal lubricant, please and thank you. Wait, make that 2 drums.

fredley 11y ago

Serious question: is it feasible to implement a kind of loose voice 'fingerprint' to prevent this kind of thing? Will/could Alexa know who's talking to it?

petewailes 11y ago
Short answer: yes.
- toyg 11y ago
  Long answer? i.e. is it possible out of the box or is it possible in principle, if anyone actually builds it?
binarymax 11y ago
Theoretically yes you can fingerprint voices. The questions are: 1) Can you do this on the Alexa servers efficiently 2) Do you want to? Seems like setting it up could be a hassle. Right now there is zero friction and it just works.
jethro_tell 11y ago
I really want an 'Alexa, stop listenting' command. There's a button on the top that mutes the mic and puts a red ring around them, but when I have people over, it's not a great environment to use voice commands anyways. 'Everyone be quite so I can shout across the room to change my music'
- Karunamon 11y ago
  A workaround would be to mute the device itself, and then use the remote (which has its own mic, and works well in noisy environments since you just hold it closer to your mouth).
  - jethro_tell 11y ago
    but then I just have to carry a remote while I'm having a party.
    - Karunamon 11y ago
      It's not a bad idea. If you're hosting, it lets you change the music without interrupting your guests.
secabeen 11y ago
It's not necessary anyways, as you have to provide a pin to actually order things.
sib 11y ago
Yes, definitely. It adds complexity in that now you have another source of both Type I and Type II errors (failing to wake up, waking when it shouldn't). Voice ID itself is far from settled science to do well, so it would be a tradeoff.

BOBOTWINSTON 11y ago

I prefer to set alarms for 3 am in the morning. I also have an Echo, so I'm waiting for one of my two victims to retaliate.

pdkl95 11y ago

Just wait until my hot new pop single "Alexa, order more toys" becomes popular with the kids.

ape4 11y ago

Alexa, how do I do <terrorist-associated> activity. Oh and please order a mile of bubble wrap.

LeoPanthera 11y ago
Incredibly, for an Amazon product, Alexa is terrible at buying things. You can only order things you've bought before, as far as I can tell, and even then, only some things, selected by a filter I don't understand.