Remember that bit in 2001: A Space Odyssey when the computer turns evil and purrs, 'I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that'? We may have reached that moment with Amazon's now-ubiquitous Echo devices, which seem to be emitting'evil' and'witch-like' laughs and refusing to obey their masters. One user claims that Alexa refused to turn the lights in his house off, repeatedly turning them on with an'evil laugh' So is it time to unplug the devices and shove them into a toaster before they turn on us and murder us all in our sleep? Amazon's Alexa is supposed to laugh when you tell it a joke – but users are reporting that the devices are laughing at inappropriate moments. An Amazon spokesman told Metro.co.uk, 'We're aware of this and working to fix it.'

Only Homo sapiens, of all the descendants of Homo erectus, survived on earth whereas other species such as homo soloensis, homo denisova, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo floresiensis faded away more than 40,000 years ago. What advantages did Homo sapiens possess that helped them to flourish while other species are extinct? Apparently a cognitive revolution (according to Prof. Yuval Harari in his famous book Sapiens) triggered by some kind of genetic mutation provided Homo Species with more cerebral power and thus they acquired an ability not possessed by any other species – ability to imagine things that did not exist. This ability helped them to invent things including powerful communicative languages, religion, tools and more. Does current cognitive revolution ushered under various nomenclatures such as artificial intelligence, cognitive computing etc provide more powers, this time to machines and bring in unprecedented progress to human life?

Artificial intelligence might conjure images of a robotic Haley Joel Osment in Spielberg's film AI, or it may make you think of Data from Star Trek. Yet the impact of artificial intelligence in everyday life is more understated and far-reaching than science fiction might suggest. Artificial intelligence has the potential to offer $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. You already encounter it every day. Think of all those times Amazon recommended a book to you or Netflix suggested a film or TV show.

I, like most of the population, have been binging on Black Mirror. If you have seen the series, you know some episodes revolve around the creation and use of smarter, improved artificial intelligence, or AI. If you have not seen the series, (spoiler alert) the AIs that are depicted in two of the episodes are essentially copies of human counterparts, coded and thrown into a virtual world. It allows this coded AI to think, feel and behave as their human counterpart would in this fabricated realm. However, in these episodes, this treatment of AIs is portrayed as inhumane.

Samsung Electronics is now believed to be upgrading its Bixby artificial intelligence platform following its latest acquisition. The South Korean giant's affiliate has apparently acquired AI search engine startup Kngine. The Investor learned Wednesday that Samsung Research America has acquired a 100-percent stake in Kngine, a startup that develops mobile solutions that understand and answer inquiries with the use of AI including deep learning. The functionality is something that could strengthen Bixby as a whole and set it apart from its rivals, like Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. Kngine started its operations in 2013 in Egypt.

As Amazon Echo Dot owner Gavin Hightower was heading to bed the other week, he encountered a disturbing Alexa bug. For no apparent reason, the device uttered a "very loud and creepy laugh." "There's a good chance I'm getting murdered tonight," Hightower tweeted after the incident. Hightower isn't alone: Numerous Echo device owners have reported their Alexas laughing spontaneously, unprovoked by their wake word ("Alexa") or any other command. Some report their Alexa devices failing to fulfill their spoken requests, performing random other actions instead, and then capping it off with a guffaw. Of all the bugs your smart assistant could encounter, uttering a high-pitched "witch-like" laugh ranks among the creepiest possibilities.

Several people who own Amazon's Echo speakers have reported a strange bug: the Alexa voice assistant has been laughing for no reason. Some users on Twitter and Reddit say the outbursts have been entirely spontaneous. Others have said that Alexa has laughed after being asked to turn on the lights -- and may have misheard the command. "Having an office conversation about pretty confidential stuff and Alexa just laughed," Twitter user @DavidSven wrote recently. "Anybody else ever have that? It didn't chime as if we had accidentally triggered her to wake. Said another Twitter user, @taylorkatelynne: "[So] my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason.

Users of Amazon's popular artificial intelligence-powered personal assistant Alexa have been reporting instances of the voice assistant laughing without being prompted, leading Amazon to search for a fix for the issue. In a statement provided to the Verge, a representative for Amazon said the company is "aware" of the problem and is "working to fix it." Reports of the issue on social media date back as far as Feb. 22. Amazon is working on a fix to make Alexa stop laughing without being prompted. According to user reports online, Alexa appears to be laughing without being prompted. While Alexa can laugh on command, the laugh that occurs on its own is apparently much creepier and closer to a cackle than the playful giggle that Alexa performs when asked.

The robot wars are coming, and Alexa will have the last laugh. Amazon acknowledged on Wednesday that some of its Alexa-enabled devices have developed a new skill: creeping out their owners with unexpected and unwarranted bursts of robotic laughter. "We're aware of this and working to fix it," the company told The Verge Wednesday. People began reporting the problem with their "smart" speakers on social media in recent weeks. "So my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason," tweeted one woman, Taylor Wade, on 5 March.

There is a lot you can do with Alexa. Here's how you can add skills. Amazon wants to use Echo and Alexa to control your whole home. SAN FRANCISCO -- Alexa, Amazon's digital assistant, is busting out with a weirdly creepy laugh at random intervals for some users and no one knows why. Posting on Twitter, Alexa users have described the laugh as "creepy," "evil," "bone-chilling" and "freaky."