Alexa 'challenges' a 10-year-old to insert coin in plug socket, Amazon resolves issue

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant was updated after a 10-year-old girl was “challenged” to lay a penny on an unprotected electrical outlet.

According to the BBC, Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant AI technology, made the idea after the girl asked for a “task to do.”

The girl’s mother, Kristin Livdahl, published a screenshot of her daughter’s “abnormal interaction” with the Echo smart speaker on December 27. On Twitter, she shared a screenshot of the device’s activity log.

OMFG My 10 year old just asked Alexa on our Echo for a challenge and this is what she said. pic.twitter.com/HgGgrLbdS8
— Kristin Livdahl (@klivdahl) December 26, 2021

“Place a penny on the exposed prongs of a phone charger halfway into a wall socket,” the smart speaker advised the girl.

OMG On our Echo, my 10-year-old requested Alexa for a challenge, and this is what she replied,

“While sharing the screenshot on Twitter, Livdahl said. Meanwhile, Amazon maintained that the issue was resolved as soon as it was discovered. “According to the British news outlet, “consumer trust is at the heart of everything we do,” and “Alexa is built to offer customers with accurate, relevant, and valuable information.”

The risky practise known as “the penny challenge” began circulating on TikTok and other social media websites about a year ago.

Electric shocks, fires, and other risks can occur when metals are inserted into live electrical sockets. Fire officials in the United States were likewise adamantly opposed to the so-called challenge.