Alexa has just whispered to me - freaked out.

[FavouritePJs]

My Alexa has just whispered to me and I couldn’t understand what it said, I asked her to repeat and she told me there was nothing to repeat. I’ve played it back in the app and it sounded like a male saying “Alexa drop” it’s nobody in our house and we dont use Alexa drop. I have unplugged it but feel (stupidly) frightened by it. My husband is on a nightshift - I don’t think I’ll sleep. My daughter doesn’t seem to think that anyone can just drop in but if it wasn’t that, what was it?

3 blue lines at the bottom of the app. Then into privacy and review voice history.... Enjoy!!

A tech company developed some robots (can't remember for the life of me what one) who could talk to each other, all fun and good until the robots developed their own language to talk to each other and none of the developers could understand the language, they switched them off after that...too bloody weird. It was definitely in a news article because DH read it out to me, it was last year sometime....

Same! I know little of technology, but the chap who does our IT systems at work won’t have one in his house so that’s good enough for me! (Even though I don’t quite understand why he doesn’t trust it…)

Right. When a population becomes completely enmeshed and dependent on technology it gives complete power to the people in charge of that technology.

Money. Cash.

Slightly off topic I know, but I simply do not understand why anyone would voluntarily have a listening device in their house. It is capable of hearing and recording every single private conversation and family interaction you have - in your own home - the one place you should be able to expect perfect privacy. We know that companies have lied in the past about how they collate, store and use data. Why on earth would you trust one not to mishandle such private data?

I also find it creepy that lots of people anthropomorphise these devices. Lots of people on this thread calling it “she” and “her”.

Me and my husband were driving through a really strange part of an old village in Europe. We had the phone sat nav and my Google maps running at the same time, and came to a really weird, strange crossroads/junction/roundabout hybrid monstrosity. My husband gave way cautiously and in a bit of a panic, exclaimed 'I don't know what to do!' To our shock, a voice came from either my phone or the satnav and said 'neither do I!'

It was so weird!

It baffles me why people keep these stupid toys that have about a 30% success rate in actually following instructions.

Ours did this recently too, started playing something completely random on Spotify that we’ve never listened to before at full blast in the middle of the night. Scared me to death.

A friend of mine farted when getting up one morning and Alexa said "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that" 🫣

It's the microphone you really need to worry about, because you can't stop that with tape. I think two very niche vendors make laptops with hardware microphone switches. The rest, the mic is controlled by OS settings alone.

It's likely a bug. Technology isn't perfect, and it sometimes gets itself into an odd state or freezes. Ours occasionally comes out with a random word or sentence. My husband works in IT, so we don't really take much notice, and tell Alexia to 'shut up'!

‘All watched over by machines of loving grace’

Adam Curtis.

An interesting documentary.

You’ll have to rename it Shelia - a character from the wonderful Detectorists who is a bit psychic - she says “I’ll get it” and then a few seconds later the doorbell goes. Spooky! 😂

I remember staying at a friend's place, while they were away, and being woken in the wee hours when the flat was suddenly flooded by beautiful haunting music, playing loudly. Took a minute to venture out of the bedroom, in absolute terror. Even worse, this was the late 80's, it turned out to be a CD player in the living room, and there was no Alexa to blame. Genuine woo - or electrical glitch or power surge or somesuch. Happened another twice that summer. I don't and wouldn't have a listening-in smart device, unless for medical/safety reasons, but freaky and unexplained has always happened.

We've got three and yes sometimes they come out with random things, but it's just glitches in the system. Nothing to freak out about.

I really want to know what that beautiful haunting music was now!

I’ve just had a conversation with someone about the true beauty of music and how it affects you. It feels as if it’s a magical thing.

No i don't think so. Sometimes our alexa says random things when no one has issued a command or is even talking. They are not a 100% fool proof. Id be terrified as well if I hear something strange from Alexa but it doesn't have to be necessarily sinister.

😱😱! This thread has made me even more determined never to have one of the wretched things in the house.

Last year me and DH were in bed, cuddling etc when Alexa emitted a girly giggle followed by unintelligible mumbling.
We sprang apart as if we'd been caught in flagrante like we were by my dad 50 years previously.
After some investigation it turned out that some how our 12 year old DGD's video games had got mixed up with our wifi or whatever (no amount of explanation could persuade me that it was not the Devil's work). She lived 5 miles away from us.
Not only is she unplugged every night now (Alexa) but also shut in a drawer.

😂that is hilarious 😂

In the bin.

This.
I have no idea why people want some multi-national company like Amazon or Google listening in (or worse, watching) to everything you do, to provide that data to thousands of other companies, AI and more. The benefit is not to you - it is the treasure trove of data that can be used to measure you and sell to you and influence your life.

I have no idea why people do this to themselves.

Same. DH is a techy type and also won't have one in the house.

Nor will I. It baffles me that people pay money to install gadgets that spy on them.

I thought that Alexa only responded to you first saying 'Alexa' but the other day I thought it was down as not responding to me after about 4 attempts.

When it suddenly said 'I think you are confusing me with someone else' .

I then realised that I had been saying 'Hey Google' and not 'Alexa' (I have Google Nest in the spare room and only use it for music when doing the ironing).

Proof positive that it is listening in, not just programmed to respond to 'Alexa'.