Amazon working on fix for randomly smiling Alexa devices – update –

Amazon has confirmed it is working on a fix for a recent phenomenon where Alexa devices make a laughing sound without a particular trigger. Several people report this phenomenon.

The American company tells The Verge that it is aware of the reports and that a solution is being worked on. The site references various notifications on social media, such as a frequently shared video, in which people describe the behavior of the Alexa devices. Amazon has not yet said anything about a possible cause.

The video, posted on Twitter at the end of February, shows a speaker making a laughing sound out of nowhere. Buzzfeed has made a selection of notifications on social media. It is unclear what the magnitude of the phenomenon is. Amazon’s voice assistant was hit by a failure last Friday due to issues with Amazon Web Storage.

Update, 8.3: Amazon tells Recode that the phenomenon is caused by the devices mistakenly understanding the command ‘Alexa, laugh’. That command has now been changed to ‘Alexa, can you laugh’, after which the assistant replies that she can and starts laughing.