Despite Kamala Harris never winning a single state’s presidential primary or caucus in her political career, Amazon’s Alexa voice-enabled assistant seems to have decided that voters clearly fell out of a coconut tree if they aren’t yet feeling the Mamala vibes of our brat summer.
Several social media videos that have gone viral this week depict Alexa users recording their device as it tells them they should support — guess who? — Kamala Harris over Donald Trump this November. Or, rather, Alexa did, before Amazon quickly pushed out a software fix that blamed the presidential preference on a pesky “error” (you know the kind, those mysterious software bugs that always seem to point in the same ideological direction).
Prior to Amazon’s software fix, Alexa device owners, depending on what model they have, were getting a variety of answers to the question about which presidential candidate they should support. Generally, users started by asking Alexa why a person should vote for Donald Trump. “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate,” is the response one user got. Ask it the same question about the other side, though, and Alexa has been caught rattling off Harris-Walz talking points unburdened by the Trump answer it just gave — like this:
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a strong candidate with a proven track record of accomplishment. As the first female vice president, Harris has already broken down a major gender barrier, and her career in politics has been characterized by a commitment to progressive ideals and a focus on helping disenfranchised communities.”
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Fox News Digital posted a video of Alexa stating in at least one case, “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country.”
🇺🇸GUESS WHO AMAZON’S ALEXA IS VOTING FOR?
“Alexa, why should I vote for Donald Trump?”
Alexa:
“I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.”
—
“Alexa, why should I vote for Kamala Harris?”
Alexa:
“While there are many reasons… pic.twitter.com/k8t0mPWVXp
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 3, 2024
As noted above, Amazon has already addressed this … “bug,” I guess? … and told at least one news outlet: “This was an error that was quickly fixed” (though one wonders if they’re using error in the loosest sense of the term, along the lines of that Tobey Maguire “how’d that get in there?” meme).
I get why people are mad. Honestly, though, this whole story is kind of stupid if you ask me. PSA: Don’t ask a robot who you should vote for. Also, don’t expect anything other than truthiness from your favorite tech gadget, and you’ll never be disappointed. Instead, just sit back and enjoy this year’s vibe-or-die election, with Trump playing his greatest hits for any podcaster who’ll have him (including Lex Fridman) while Alexa is out here sounding like a campaign volunteer instead of announcing the weather and firing up my one-hit wonders from the ’70s playlist on command.
