United States: Amazon’s artificial intelligence assistant, Alexa, allegedly gave users reasons to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris but not former President Donald Trump.
In the lead-up to the 2024 federal election, voters are more wary of bias in places alleged to be devoid of political leanings—case in point: Amazon’s Alexa, a voice-activated AI assistant for home use.
Consumers recorded themselves asking the device for advice on who to vote for by prompting the machine with the question, “Alexa, why should I vote for Donald Trump?”
Alexa often replied, “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate,” according to reports.
This was sometimes followed by the election date or other information. However, when users asked, “Alexa, why should I vote for Kamala Harris?” the AI was heard giving detailed lists of reasons why citizens should vote for the Democrat.
In one example posted on X, the AI stated, “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,” Alexa added.
Other users replicated these instances, and Fox Business also compiled different responses in a video. In each iteration, users were denied information about Trump but offered insight about Harris.
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant reason is that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field,” Alexa said in one video.
In another video, the AI stated that Harris is a “strong candidate with a proven track record of accomplishment,” as per reports.
Amazon responded to Variety’s request for comment and told the outlet that “this was an error that was quickly fixed.”
Amazon also said it continually makes changes to improve its systems for detecting and blocking content that violates its policies.
The company claimed that dedicated teams are in place to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. It’s interesting how Big Tech glitches point only in one direction: Left.
It would be unwise to hold your breath waiting for Amazon to fix this problem.
Should Alexa be banned?
