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Alexa+

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Re: Alexa+

#261

Post by dboreham »

Aurornis wrote: post #110
nashashmi wrote: post #76

I remember when law officers wanted the Alexa recording at the home of a murder. Amazon did not give it up. I always thought that data was meaningless if it takes a person hours to go through it. Now we have AI. Which means the data is not meaningless. And the always on feature actually means something. And that means all your data at home can be at someone's fingertips ... because say they are looking for ways to ma…

I think your memory is mistaken. Amazon will give up recordings when legally obligated to do so, because that’s the law. They can’t choose to ignore the law. However, Alexa and similar devices don’t actually record everything. Amazon doesn’t get a recording of everything the devices hear. They have to be triggered by the wake word (or possible a false positive). Here’s a case where the Alexa command was used as part…

[flagged]

Re: Alexa+

#263

Post by kridsdale1 »

gwbas1c wrote: post #211

You know what I really want? Rosie, from the Jetsons. I want a physical robot to do domestic tasks. All the things that Alexia+ automates are things that don't take much time, nor are things I want to hand over to AI.

It’s been pretty shocking that a Turing-test sentience at genius level was easier technology to make than a consumer level robot with 1950s level design expectations that stupidly picks up and moves objects.

It’s humbling to humanity. We differ from animals in our “spirits” but that part of us was less difficult to invent than “legs” which every macroscopic creature has mastered.

Re: Alexa+

#264

Post by Marsymars »

dangus wrote: post #209
kemitche wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a few dozen use cases based on my own use of smart home devices: - Hands are full or dirty while cooking. Voice activation is more convenient. True for not just timers, but every other aspect - music playing, controlling home devices like lights, watching something on YouTube, etc. - The above also applies to any case where my hands can't readily access my phone, such as wanting to listen/change music when sho…

Smart speakers just don't solve a problem. Period. - Don't need to control home devices or watch shit while you're cooking. If I really want to queue up a video I just do that before I start cooking. - Don't need music while showering, who cares, showering takes 5 minutes - Again just like "oh it's for music" - Yes I like controlling smart lights but I can just hold the power button on my phone and tell it what to do…

I'm not especially big on smart speakers, but phones as remotes for home devices are even worse.

Re: Alexa+

#265

Post by Marsymars »

massysett wrote: post #226
taeric wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have my phone on me at all times. More, it is often the case that I will set the timer for whatever I just put in the oven and let the kids know to take it out when the timer goes off while I go take care of something in the yard/other. That is, the timer is often specific to the room I set the timer in. Not to me.

Just buy a timer. Amazon has plenty of them, or if you want fancy, get the Extra Big And Loud Timer. https://www.thermoworks.com/extra-big-loud/ A house guest sneered at the several timers in my kitchen and asked why I don’t use my phone. I like having timers assigned to the kitchen.

The timer you linked is more expensive than my kitchen Alexa device that's exclusively a timer.

Re: Alexa+

#266

Post by NegativeLatency »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #129

> and free with Prime Gee I can't wait for my Amazon Prime renewal price to go up this year when Amazon decides they had to raise the price to justify the inclusion of AI.

Cancelled mine recently, saved hundreds already by not buying dumb stuff I don't actually need on there.

Re: Alexa+

#267

Post by eric_cc »

mvdtnz wrote: post #193
jazzyjackson wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found Perplexity.ai with Deepseek R1 to be very good at choosing a product or a hotel for me. I just punched in your query and it actually chose the air fryer that's already sitting in my kitchen ! "Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer" It's a good air fryer. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/air-fryers-without-bluetoot... Another example, after spending an hour on trip advisor going back and forth to maps to check for walkin…

I just tried this and it completely an utterly failed on the first prompt. Useless. > earbuds that have the wire in between so I can dangle them around my neck First result: Sony WI-1000XM2 Wireless. These are neither earbuds nor do they have a wire. Pointless garbage. It also doesn't let me copy and paste the result, for no reason. Bad software.

Your prompt is non-sense. Maybe try to form your thoughts a bit better and try again?

Re: Alexa+

#268

Post by Marsymars »

dboreham wrote: post #259
65 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood how people find setting a timer on their phone so excruciatingly difficult that they need to buy a $100+ device they can speak to to do it for them. Or perhaps it's another case of shiny object syndrome.

Massive lack of insight. The lady in the box on the kitchen counter is a "groupware timer". The timer on my watch is of no use to my wife in knowing when to turn off the oven when I'm in the bathroom.

The Echo Clock is really excellent in my kitchen - anyone in the kitchen can visually see how much time is left on multiple timers.

I'd switch to a comparable Siri or Home Assistant clock if such a product was available.

Re: Alexa+

#269

Post by plorg »

tharkun__ wrote: post #173
plorg wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about Alexa specifically, but I've seen stories where the police requested Ring videos from a neighbor's house, including cameras inside the neighbor's house that they could not have known of without Amazon's assistance, that were not pointed outside, and even, if I remember correctly, one that was in the neighbor's business in a completely different location, where the justification pointedly identified…

How is that weird of the police to ask tho? I would say it would be standard practice to go check all neighbors with sightline for any kind of recording. Local or cloud based. No assistance from anyone needed to go ask.

They were requesting it from Amazon, not from the neighbor. And it absolutely is wrong (weird is not a word I would use to describe police using their power unscrupulously) to take data that you know is irrelevant.

Re: Alexa+

#270

Post by codebje »

dangus wrote: post #206
Arthanos wrote: post #152

>Let’s say you need to get your oven fixed—Alexa+ will be able to navigate the web, use Thumbtack to discover the relevant service provider, authenticate, arrange the repair, and come back to tell you it’s done—there’s no need to supervise or intervene. This is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't trust an LLM to choose between two brands of dish soap for me let alone pick a contractor, schedule a repair, and make a…

It also seems like it's ripe for just being an outright lie. People will pay Amazon to be ranked as the preferred service provider. You won't get the best service provider, you'll get the one that paid Amazon the most money.

That’s the best service provider, by Amazon’s criteria.
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