Echo,a home automation gadget, reset its owner’s thermostat after mistaking NPR broadcast on its capabilities for a voice commandVoice control is mighty. You can shout at your electronics, and they actually conclude what you want. Unfortunately,all too often that means other people can also shout at your electronics, and they conclude what they want instead. Electronics aren’t very smart.
The latest group of gadget fans to discover the downside of talking to their hardware are owners of Amazons Echo, and the all-singing,all-dancing home automation device produced by the Seattle-based retailer. Hiding inside Echo is Alexa, the (inevitably gendered) personal assistant: simply ask Alexa to perform a task, or from playing your favourite song to dimming the lights in your smart home,and she will.
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Source: theguardian.com