Excuse Us, Why are Alexa Devices Randomly Laughing?

We're living in the future, and for the most part, it's fine, if somewhat extra. Technology has brought us robot strippers, food delivery from an app (a convenience which still confounds our grandparents), and wifi-enabled pillows. Our day-to-day lives are so saturated with technology that we barely notice it. It's only when technology becomes extremely creepy that we wonder if we actually living in an episode of Black Mirror.

Amazon's Alexa-enabled devices are taking some users down the uncanny valley, as reports have emerged of the home assistant gadget laughing on its own. Echoes and other devices are just randomly laughing at nothing. Excuse us, but that is not OK. This is Exorcist-level fuckery, and we need a priest. Our Amazon Echo is for streaming podcasts while we beat our face for a night out, it is not for watching us while we sleep.

The Verge reports that Amazon's fix for this disturbing glitch is to disabling, "Alexa, laugh," and changing it to, "Alexa, can you laugh?" Somehow, this is intended to prevent Alexa from reacting to words or phrases that may sound similar. No word on if this fix will stop Alexa from gaining consciousness and throwing humanity into the Matrix.

Twitter users predictably reacted with aversion, with many users joking (or not joking) that they unplugged the device and banished it back to hell, where it belongs.

Photo Courtesy of NBC