On Tuesday, Amazon was forced to admit that its voice assistant, Alexa, had made a glaring mistake when it provided starkly different answers about why a user should vote for Vice President Kamala Harris versus former President Donald Trump.
Social media users and Fox News caught Alexa serving up a glowing answer for Harris, stating, “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country.” Meanwhile, when asked about Trump, Alexa dodged, saying, “I cannot endorse a political candidate.”
But it didn’t stop there. Alexa also touted Harris’s criminal justice credentials, claiming she had a “tough on crime” approach to tackling the rising crime rates plaguing America’s cities. Yet, when it came to Trump, Alexa had a different script: “I cannot promote content that supports a certain political party or a specific politician. Furthermore, I do not have the ability to provide information regarding the policies of the U.S. government. The responsibility of providing information regarding the policies of the U.S. government lies with the government itself.”
Facing backlash, Amazon quickly backtracked, stating it had “fixed the error” and reassured the public that teams are monitoring Alexa to prevent policy violations. The company also insisted that Alexa doesn’t hold political views.
“This was an error that was quickly fixed,” said an Amazon spokesperson in a statement.
Now, when asked about either Harris or Trump, Alexa remains neutral, stating it cannot comment on political candidates, according to Fox News. When asked about the upcoming election, the device simply provides the date November 5 and lists the candidates.
The episode leaves many wondering: Was this a genuine mistake, or yet another example of Big Tech’s bias at play?
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