Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa? • Hacker News Board

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#131

Post by mackrevinack » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 9:05 AM UTC

moron4hire wrote: post #97

I wish these companies wouldn't anthropomorphize the systems so much. I catch my mother calling Siri "her", and my wife calls Google Assistant "her" because she has it set to a feminine voice. I try to remind our small children that it's just a computer, there is no person behind it. It's important, because I've noticed that folks who humanize these assistants start having expectations of their capabilities that far…

i heard there are some parents that make their kids say "thank you" or "please" to their voice assistants. that really bothers me for some reason. its like putting "please" at the end of a google search. its just plain illogical

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#132

Post by PostThisTooFast » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 9:21 AM UTC

Laremere wrote: post #102

I think Alexa and Siri are two examples of poor software ethics in practice. Ethics are more than just "don't kill or enslave people", but thinking about "if we make this choice, what consequences will it have, and will those consequences be negative to anyone?" In general, I think "don't name something a name which is given to people" is a not entirely obvious, but fairly good rule. This also related to the practice…

Alexa is an example of profound ignorance.

Why did Amazon name its virtual assistant after a camera?

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#133

Post by another-dave » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 9:51 AM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #49

afavour wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know an Alexa and she says the same. I'll admit I hadn't thought about it before but it does sound like an incredibly annoying thing to have dropped on you from on high: constant jokes, if anyone addresses you in an Amazon-enabled home all kind of crap gets triggered... I can see why people are infuriated by it.

People are like that. Ask a tall person if he's tired of people asking, "What's the weather like up there?" My first name is associated with a catch phrase of a particular era, and I can judge how old someone is by their reaction to it. You live with it. You move on with your life.

I don't know, it feels like a different category when imposed from a company & overnight.

There was an "Austin Powers" at an old workplace. Imagine being that guy, with a perfectly normal if uncommon name until one day a trailer for a new comedy spy film comes out…

Obviously not much you can do about it with films, it's possible to happen, but I'd find that _much_ more annoying that getting tall jokes.

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#134

Post by xuhu » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 10:17 AM UTC

afavour wrote: post #18

mentos wrote: post #8

Funny coincidence I was just wondering this a few weeks ago when reading a Tinder bio of a girl named Alexa who had something to the effect of 'heard all the Alexa jokes for a lifetime thanks' Made me wonder if there is a class action lawsuit where all of the Alexa's could sue Amazon for psychological distress or something.

I know an Alexa and she says the same. I'll admit I hadn't thought about it before but it does sound like an incredibly annoying thing to have dropped on you from on high: constant jokes, if anyone addresses you in an Amazon-enabled home all kind of crap gets triggered... I can see why people are infuriated by it.

I'm colorblind and don't get offended by people asking "is this shirt red or green" when they find out. I started enjoying it once I had enough comeback lines to pick from.

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#135

Post by mrcartmenez » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 1:10 PM UTC

scollet wrote: post #101

LeoPanthera wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think unrequested snarky comments like this will actually convince anyone?

It's not snark, surely. It's a legitimate option. Ditch the surveillance boxes, they can't possibly augment your life in a meaningful way.

Agreed. Those things are useless novelty items that seem to have no genuinely useful function

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#136

Post by mrcartmenez » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 1:12 PM UTC

intertextuality wrote: post #124

scollet wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not snark, surely. It's a legitimate option. Ditch the surveillance boxes, they can't possibly augment your life in a meaningful way.

This is so out of touch. If you want people to simply roll their eyes and ignore your words completely, keep on espousing arguments like that. Alexa, Siri and co. do have legitimate use cases for people, even if they may not be useful for -you-.

What are these legitimate use cases? Controls for people with disabilities?

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#137

Post by mrcartmenez » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 1:18 PM UTC

sib wrote: post #91

mc32 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you just change the prompt for the device to one of the other options? Though I dunno why they can't make it use any wake word you choose.

Because different words have very different best potential performance characteristics when used as wake words. We would have liked to enable fully custom wake words, but it would have led to bad user experiences with the device either failing to wake up too often (false negatives) or having too many false positives or both. So we compromised by enabling more than one, but not full choice.

I just wanted to let you know that you have caused great distress to my aunt, my daughter and my wider family through you and your colleagues thoughtless actions.

I hope someday you, and Amazon as a whole, gets its comeuppance.

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#138

Post by mewpmewp2 » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 2:17 PM UTC

xuhu wrote: post #134

afavour wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know an Alexa and she says the same. I'll admit I hadn't thought about it before but it does sound like an incredibly annoying thing to have dropped on you from on high: constant jokes, if anyone addresses you in an Amazon-enabled home all kind of crap gets triggered... I can see why people are infuriated by it.

I'm colorblind and don't get offended by people asking "is this shirt red or green" when they find out. I started enjoying it once I had enough comeback lines to pick from.

That sounds like a really great way to handle it. Find and learn the best comebacks possibly and make everyone feel good about the situation while showing off your positive attitude and wit.

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#139

Post by SomeHacker44 » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 2:50 PM UTC

jmosbech wrote: post #36

Related: Being married to an actual Siri made it easy for us to rule out one of the home automation platforms. (I asked, but somehow she didn’t feel like changing her name.)

I too work with a real-world Siri, and he is also male.

Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?

#140

Post by djmips » Sat, Feb 20, 2021, 5:11 PM UTC

Laremere wrote: post #102

I think Alexa and Siri are two examples of poor software ethics in practice. Ethics are more than just "don't kill or enslave people", but thinking about "if we make this choice, what consequences will it have, and will those consequences be negative to anyone?" In general, I think "don't name something a name which is given to people" is a not entirely obvious, but fairly good rule. This also related to the practice…

I agree, it's been also going on in hurricanes and even memes (Karen). In fact how about not naming things that are already used in general (Windows). At the very least we won't have to sit through lame obvious puns but at best we don't pollute the namespace.