“Alexa is human”: parents protest against Amazon over name of virtual assistant

Since the launch of Alexa in 2014, Amazon’s virtual assistant has fallen in love with more than one, thanks to its innovative design and ease of operation. So, with this revolutionary tool Amazon entered to compete in a market that Apple and Google already inhabited, with Siri and the Google Assistant, respectively.

Now, there is something that some users did not like very much and it has to do with the way this assistant answers people’s calls. Recently, several parents complained to Amazon for deciding that the word “Alexa” is the one that activates the Amazon Echo services, as this has been an excuse for girls of the same name are bullied in their school or social space.

“He didn’t want to introduce himself to others because of these jokes and reactions. She was and is a girl, but some adults thought it was okay to joke around with her like that. It is devastating. School didn’t help and said she needed to get strongerA mother told the BBC in an interview.

In fact, there have been so many inconveniences with this problem that several parents have even decided to change their daughters’ names, accusing the wave of ridicule against girls as “relentless”.

“Now he’s doing a lot better (after changing his name). And we transferred her to a new school to give her a fresh start. But this injustice will always be with her and with us “

For all of this, parents asked Amazon to reconsider this word and change it to one with which voice assistance can be activated without affecting people in real life.

“Amazon needs to change the default activation word on its devices. It is clear that not enough ethical research has been done on the use of Alexa “

However, in the face of criticism from people, Amazon said it “regrets” what happened, however, it assures that this incident was planned so from the start. Alternative words have been included to activate the Echoes assistant.

Previously, Infobae had covered the subject and explained in a simple tutorial how this word can be changed, for others like Amazon, Echo or Computer, options available to the assistant to precisely avoid the error between Echoes and people called “Alexa”.

However, this idea does not at all solve the situation faced by the concerned parents, who ensured that the problem is not that the device is confused when the girls are called home, but the name itself. There is no need to configure a single Echo in any home, if the conflict arises in that ‘Alexa’ is already seen as synonymous with bondage in popular culture.

“My daughter Alexa is now nine years old. It all goes beyond “normal” teasing and bullying. It is the elimination of identity. The word Alexa has become synonymous with servant or slave. This gives a license to treat those who call themselves Alexa in a servile manner, ”explained Lauren Johnson, who also created a campaign called Alexa is a Human (“ Alexa is human ”) in an attempt to defend the rights of girls who wear this name. .

In response to this criticism, Amazon explained, “We designed our voice assistant to reflect the qualities we value in people: be smart, loving, empathetic and inclusive“; however, this is a concept that the parents of the mocked girls say is not currently seen in popular slang.

“I encourage everyone who calls themselves Alexa to fight for their name. It’s Amazon that must take a step back“Concluded a woman in conversation with the BBC.

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