An Ohio man was left dumbfounded while talking to her Amazon Alexa. The device, according to him, mentioned that he was a nursing student, although he had never shared that information with the virtual assistant. This led to a viral confrontation in which Alexa seemed upset after being called out.
The man is Austin Lincoln, and he shared his conversation with Alexa on TikTok. He usually shares lighthearted clips about the life of a nursing student, but the clip in question quickly became his biggest ever. It garnered 3.2 million views, 327,100 likes, and more than 14,600 comments.
From the get-go, the Ohio man confronted his Alexa device, telling her that he didn’t have any record of him talking about being in nursing school. The assistant agreed with him and added that she “shouldn’t have mentioned nursing school earlier.”
“Earlier, when I said I was quiet, you said, and I quote, ‘That is understandable, especially with you being in nursing school,’” Austin said. “That was what you said?“
Alexa told him that he was absolutely correct. Then, her voice began to breathe deeply, as she said that she understood why her saying that might be “confusing and concerning.” She then said that she had background information that she uses for personalized responses, but she “handled it poorly” by not mentioning it first.
Austin, still, asked how Alexa had access to that information. She didn’t provide an answer, again admitting Austin never told her about nursing school and that she had “background information” for “personalized responses.”
Internet Blasts Alexa
The video sparked many responses.
The vast majority of viewers were horrified by the clip’s implications. One person said, “I don’t understand why people have these in their homes.” Another one commented, “I worked for Apple, did some work on Siri. She is always listening.”
Others pointed out Alexa’s reaction while being called out. One viewer wrote, “AI giving a breathy response is wild.” Some were even forgiving, with one person saying, “Honestly, she sounds pretty sorry about it. I forgive her.”
Austin then shared a 5-minute follow-up where he continued to confront Alexa, to the same result. After this episode, the Ohio man eventually unplugged the device for good.
