Amazon has issued an apology after customers who ordered the new PlayStation 5 video game console ended up receiving other products instead -- notably cat food. Unhappy gamers turned to social media with concerns that their orders may have been stolen -- replaced with items from air fryers and rolls of tape to foot massagers. Demand for the much-anticipated console has far outstripped supply across the UK, with all major retailers presently reporting dwindling or depleted stocks. Launch day on November 19 saw the websites of retailers GAME and John Lewis to crash -- while Currys PC World's virtual queue amassed some 120,000 shoppers. Meanwhile, opportunistic profiteers who had succeeded in securing a PS5 have started scalping the consoles online -- with some going on eBay for twice the RRP.

If you ask Alexa what chemtrails are, you might be surprised by what she says. The voice assistant has been spouting a government conspiracy theory as an explanation for the oft-debated condensation trails. Alexa has been recorded telling users: 'Chemtrails are trails left by aircraft [that] are actually chemical or biological agents deliberately sprayed at high altitudes for a purpose undisclosed to the general public in clandestine programs directed by government officials'. Amazon says it has taken steps to fix the issue since the error was first discovered by Mashable. Amazon's Alexa voice assistant has been telling users that chemtrails are part of a government-issued conspiracy theory.

There are plenty of stories of artificial intelligence gone wrong. But recent reports from owners of Amazon Alexa devices are being called'bone chillingly creepy.' Some users say their Alexa-enabled gadgets start laughing totally unprompted. Some owners of Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo (pictured, file photo) say their gadgets are randomly laughing. Alexa is programmed to laugh at jokes, but doesn't typically giggle at random times One user reportedly tried to turn the lights off in their home but Alexa repeatedly turned the lights back on, eventually uttering an'evil laugh,' according to BuzzFeed.

It is the voice-activated device that it supposed to make it simple to play music, check the weather or order a takeaway. But things weren't quite so straightforward for one Amazon Echo owner – after an advert for the smart speaker triggered their own device and left them with an unwanted order for cat food. The owner complained to the advertising regulator about the'socially irresponsible' advert, which was shown on television screens on October 5. The advert demonstrated various people using the Amazon Echo device – which is voiced by an'intelligent personal assistant' known as Alexa. At one point in the advert, a man's voice says: 'Alexa, re-order Purina cat food,' to which the virtual assistant replied: 'I've found Purina cat food.

Advertising watchdog rejects Echo Dot owner's complaint that TV spot was irresponsible An Amazon Echo owner has tried to get a television advertising campaign for the smart speaker banned after the Alexa virtual assistant attempted to order cat food when it heard its name on an ad. An Amazon TV ad for the Echo Dot, which can perform functions such as make shopping lists and play music with voice commands, features people using the device in different situations. In one a man's voice says: "Alexa, reorder Purina cat food." Alexa responds: "I've found Purina cat food. Would you like to buy it?" A viewer lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), saying that the ad was irresponsible because it caused their Echo Dot to order cat food.

A television ad for Amazon's Echo Dot smart speaker that caused a viewer's device to try to order cat food has been cleared by a UK regulator. The advert, which aired in October, featured a man asking Amazon's voice assistant Alexa to order Purina cat food. A viewer said the ad caused their Echo Dot device to respond after hearing the ad on the television. The viewer complained that the ad was "socially irresponsible". The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that it would not uphold the consumer's complaint because it did not find the advert to be in breach of the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising.

Toronto resident Simon Treadwell wheeled a garbage bin onto a snow-bound lot next to his property one evening this past winter. Inside the bin was a smelly mixture of wet and dry cat food, sardines, and fried chicken. Treadwell sprinkled some of the mix on and around the bin, made sure his three motion-activated night vision cameras were on, and went back into his house. Treadwell was testing a new lid latch he had devised in response to the city of Toronto's request for proposals: The city needed help keeping raccoons out of people's garbage. For over a decade, residents had been asked to place organic compostable materials such as vegetables, meat, bones, and even paper towels into green bins.