Amazon Knows Why Alexa Was Laughing at Its Customers

For weeks, users of Amazon's digital assistant, Alexa, have reported versions of the same unsettling event: being startled as they went about their day by Alexa letting out an eerie laugh. Now, Amazon says that it knows why that's been happening and is working to fix the problem. "In rare circumstances, Alexa can mistakenly hear the phrase'Alexa, laugh,'" when other words are spoken, Amazon said in an emailed statement. "We are changing that phrase to be'Alexa, can you laugh?' which is less likely to have false positives, and we are disabling the short utterance'Alexa, laugh.'" The company also said that instead of simply laughing when asked, the digital assistant, which is accessible through its line of Echo devices, will first acknowledge the request, saying, "Sure, I can laugh."