Experts Say Keep Amazon’s Alexa Away from Your Kids
By Sam Biddle
What’s the best way to keep adults from questioning the use of a deeply problematic product? Get them started when they’re too young to question anything. Amazon has a new addition to its line of voice-commanded AI “Alexa” assistants, marketed for use by children as young as 5, who can barely grasp a box of juice, let alone digital privacy. Now a coalition of children’s privacy and psychology advocates are warning parents away from Amazon’s latest, cutest device, saying it could normalize surveillance and harm children’s mental development.
The Echo Dot for Kids is functionally identical to the Echo Dot for adults, except brightly colored and inexplicably $30 more than the grownup version. Cosmetics aside, Echo Dot is still an artificial intelligence-powered microphone that listens constantly for an activation keyword, relays a user’s voice to remote servers where it is analyzed and processed opaquely, and then responds to an increasingly long list of commands; on its packaging, Amazon highlights commands like “tell me a story” and “start Spongebob.” Dot for Kids will not only perpetually listen to and entertain your children, but attempt to teach them manners in your stead: “Alexa even provides positive feedback when kids ask questions and remember to say ‘please,’” says Amazon.
