Amazon's Alexa device tells 10-year-old to touch a penny to a live plug socket

Virtual assistants can set timers for people, play music, control smart home devices, respond to voice commands and set up reminders. As of Sunday, they have also proven their ability to challenge children to lethal dares. Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant, recently advised a 10-year-old girl to touch a penny to a live plug socket after she asked the Echo smart speaker for a challenge. "My 10 year old just asked Alexa on our Echo for a challenge and this is what she said," said user Kristin Livdahl in a tweet on Sunday. She accompanied the caption with a screenshot of Alexa's response.