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What Hi-Fi?
What Hi-Fi?
Technology
Joe Svetlik

When smart speakers act dumb: 8 times Alexa et al got it wrong

The Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Generation) smart speaker on a kitchen counter next to a bowl of fruit.

My Echo Show thinks it's Christmas. In June. I don't know why, but the smart speaker keeps suggesting Christmas recipes like 'Classic Christmas pudding' and 'Christmas brownies'. It's also prompting me to ask it to play Jingle Bells. It's 22 degrees Celsius outside.

This isn't the first time a smart speaker has acted in ways that couldn't be described as smart. From promoting conspiracy theories to advising users to break the law, here are eight times smart speakers were decidedly dumb.

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