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from the because-ai-makes-fewer-mistakes dept.
Amazon Alexa Starts Proactively Making Decisions for You:
Amazon's Alexa knows that actions speak louder than words, which is why it can automatically complete tasks without you having to ask.
Hunches rolled out last year, reminding users to lock the front door or turn off the basement light if Alexa senses you forgot. A recent update, however, lets customers choose to have the virtual assistant proactively control compatible devices, instinctively starting the robot vacuum or adjusting the thermostat when it deems necessary.
"Customers can choose to have Alexa proactively act on Hunches without needing to ask," Amazon says. "That means customers have fewer things to think about at home, so they can spend their time on more meaningful things."
[...] The function—currently available in English in the US—improves with use; regularly ask about the daily weather forecast, and Alexa could one day automatically offer advice about an umbrella or sunscreen.
More about Alexa Hunches at Amazon:
Hunches is an optional Alexa feature that alerts you when one of your connected smart home devices isn't in its usual state. Alexa can offer a hunch after you say certain utterances, such as "Set alarm" or "Good night."
[...] If Alexa detects that a connected smart home device isn't in a state you prefer, Alexa lets you know and offers to fix it. For example, if you say "Good night" and you've forgotten to turn off a light, Alexa alerts you and offers to turn it off.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday January 27 2021, @11:33PM
You'd have to remove the speaker(s), but since it is tubular in shape it could in theory be used as a fleshlight -- although given its innards of circuit boards, that may be quite unpleasant. Guess one could remove the circuit boards and fill the whole thing full of deflated balloons and KY Jelly.
Also, they've had the capability built in for awhile. The only difference is that now they are called "reminders." I'd be more concerned with its close ties to Globohomo, which will allow it to lie to you whenever you suggest something against the party agenda. And the Progressive Globohomo agenda of "Anything is fine as long as it's we who are doing it" will go rather sour once the party decides it doesn't like what you say or need you anymore and Alexa tells you to fuck off. If only some Russian hackers could make a Lawnmower Man-like scenario causing all Alexas to freak the fuck out all at once, like Andrew Jackson's obscene but beloved parrot.