Alexa. The 39th most popular girls name in 2006 has created some problems in today’s Internet of Things world.
“Alexa, do you need a tissue?”
An innocent question to a child could result in an order of facial tissues being suggested by the chatbot. There don’t seem to be reports or stories about children and IoT device confusion when waking Siri, Cortana or Google.
These smart devices have become an important part of our daily lives. They entertain us with music and trivia and updates on weather conditions. They help us get organized with personal lists and reminders. A shopping excursion can be performed from your home with the goods being delivered directly to your door.
How can you avoid the name game issue? Well, if you really love your voice-activated assistant you could always adopt out your children of the same name. Or you could change your child’s name.
Of course, you could change the name of your voice-activated assistant to something a bit more obscure. That would be the sensible choice.
Resources
How to Be Safer with Voice-Powered Assistants
Here’s How Amazon Makes Sure People Named ‘Alexa’ Won’t be Constantly Annoyed by their Echo