To NOT let Alexa come and live with us?

[Blessingsatbedtime]

DB thinks she would be amazing and be a wonderful addition to the family, I think she would make our lives a misery. She comes from Amazon and I don't feel I need another woman running my home!

DH is a huge techie but I draw the line at these. Big Brother is watching you 😱

It is so scary the way you can replay your own spoken words when filling out the shopping list!

I have her telling DS when to get ready in the morning for school. And then breaking it down to: put your pants on, vest on, if you don't have trousers on now you will be late etc. Defo better she nags than me. It's freed me up to blow dry my hair every morning!!

Having watched enough Artificial Intelligence films (including Terminator) and programmes I told my DP that I hated those Alexa things, didn't trust them, and didn't want one... so he bought me(?) one for Christmas....
I still don't like/trust her and she really only gets used to play music...

Alexa is great, we have 5 in the house - one in the living room, kitchen, bathroom and the kids each have an echo dot in their rooms. She’s brilliant for playing music (I live abroad and like to listen to radio 2 and it’s great not having to stream through my phone). The kids love having their own dots for listening to music and cheating with their homework. Last week they all had the flu and had to stay in their beds, and used the ‘drop in on’ feature as an intercom to tell me when they wanted water etc. I wouldn’t be without her now (very curious about these smart kettles). After reading this thread I’m going to use the shopping list feature too.

Checking them out now, a little curious. The one at £50 looks okay. Mmmmm.

I like her. I just have the one in the living room, I use it mainly for listening to music, setting reminders and finding out the weather/news.
The kids like making her fart and burp and tell jokes.
There's a mic off switch so you can turn it off so as not to listen in if you want although I don't see the point as I have smartphones etc so big brother can get his info on me anyway.
I'm going to get a light switch so she can turn the light off and on when i'm out/ on holiday.
She can also be used as a phone to contact friends with one which would be good for elderly/ disabled people who might struggle otherwise.

I clean at a house that has little white circular pods in almost all the rooms? Is it listening in all the time? To anyone?
Oops, I'd better stop singing badly then...

will never have one. Friend works in Big Data and Cyber and it's truly terrifying what these things are picking up and storing.
don't get the "can play music all day" thing. don't you have radios? Ipods?

Other than the advantages for those with additional needs, not a single post on here has listed an advantage which would make me want to buy one. I just turn on my own lights, heating etc.

Anyone lsitening in to me would die of boredom.

Either I'm on the phone talking about door closers or sewage treatment plants. Or me shouting "Alexa! Play the Archers!"

Absolutely not being unreasonable.
No way are we having one.
We have slagged it off on adverts so many time we've even brainwashed the kids into thinking its a bad idea

I saw a thing on telly about it a while ago and the salesperson was saying something like "and we can discuss which Model/version you need" NO, nobody NEEDS this crap.

Where will it end.
"alexa, turn the lights on"
"alexa, cook dinner for me"
"alexa, wipe my arse please"

FFS

Anyone lsitening in to me would die of boredom
you really dont understand whats going on with these things do you

you really dont understand whats going on with these things do you

Nope. Like I said, people are sleepwalking into giving large corporations all the information on their lives, right down to the minutiae.

some people seem to think there are actual people listening for interesting bits of gossip
it's just data harvested by computers and analysed by algorithms to build a profile of customers so as to more effectively sell to them, influence behavior and make predictions about future behaviors

Quote from Homo Deus by Yuval Harari

Devices such as Amazon’s Kindle are able to collect data on their users while they are reading. Your Kindle can, for example, monitor which parts of a book you read quickly, and which slowly; on which page you took a break, and on which sentence you abandoned the book, never to pick it up again.

If Kindle is upgraded with face recognition and biometric sensors, it will know how each sentence you read influenced your heart rate and blood pressure. It will know what made you laugh, what made you sad and what made you angry. Soon, books will read you while you are reading them. And whereas you quickly forget most of what you read, Amazon will never forget a thing.

Such data will enable Amazon to choose books for you with uncanny precision. It will also enable Amazon to know exactly who you are, and how to turn you on and off.

Eventually we may reach a point when it will be impossible to disconnect from this all-knowing network even for a moment. Disconnection will mean death. If medical hopes are realised, future humans will incorporate into their bodies a host of biometric devices, bionic organs and nano-robots, which will monitor our health and defend us from infections, illnesses and damage.

Yet these devices will have to be online 24/ 7, both in order to be updated with the latest medical developments, and to protect them from the new plagues of cyberspace. Just as my home computer is constantly attacked by viruses, worms and Trojan horses, so will be my pacemaker, hearing aid and nanotech immune system. If I don’t update my body’s anti-virus program regularly, I will wake up one day to discover that the millions of nano-robots coursing through my veins are now controlled by a North Korean hacker.
............
If we are not careful the result might be an Orwellian police state that constantly monitors and controls not only all our actions, but even what happens inside our bodies and our brains. Just think what uses Stalin could have found for omnipresent biometric sensors – and what uses Putin might yet find for them.

Only had mine a few days. I love it. Using it to play music - I get access to 2million songs with prime. Have played a couple of games. My calendar is synced to it and I've had a go at the shopping list. I noticed that some supermarkets have included Alexa on their online ordering, so hope that Tesco add it to their app soon. Loving what I can do already and looking forward to new developments in the future.

They've got their fingers in their ears ohfortuna.

I wonder if Alexa listening to every word is an issue for those who work from home?

If your work is of a sensitive nature, would your employer be bothered about Alexa hearing every word during conference calls etc?

I can't believe so many people have it in the house. OK it may be useful but as pointed out by ohfortuna and Mokoto do you really not see what is going on here? I have live without it for over 50 years so I obviously don't need it. Even if I did, on balance I wouldn't have it because of what I believe it would cost in the long run. By cost I am not referring to money. Are you just as happy to implanted with a chip when it comes to it? Is that a 'yes' - because you're tired of having to remember and type in passwords and it would make it oh so more convenient when you do your shopping? Please.

I have live without it for over 50 years so I obviously don't need it
Need is a concept which constantly shifts, if devices are compelling and attractive enough if we enjoy using them then we will tend to let them into our lives without thinking about where this is leading

My husband has one, I literally won't have it in the house, I make him keep it at the office. It scares the crap out of me. It's always listening to your conversations unless you literally unplug it. I feel the government are far too interested in our online behaviour - how long before they want to monitor the conversations you have in your own home? This is one step away from the telescreen for me- nope nope nope nope nope will not have it anywhere near.

My husband has one, I literally won't have it in the house, I make him keep it at the office.

I wonder if he's considered this:

If your work is of a sensitive nature, would your employer be bothered about Alexa hearing every word during conference calls etc?

He works for the MOD, but what he does is very very irrelevant in the grand scheme of things....

Those people who use it to tell them the news - what is the source of that news? Does it give you news stories from a variety of sources so that you get a more rounded picture or just one?
If you ask it a question, where does it get its answer from and how can you be sure that it's an accurate answer?
If you google the news or a question, by typing it in in the old-fashioned way, then you can find results from a range of websites and sources and are therefore less likely to be influenced and led by one company's choice of news outlet/source of information/place to order your groceries/place to order your fast food etc.

I swear my husband talks to Alexa more than he does to me. The GC are joining in now. I ignore her.