Alexa, why are you spreading lies about the 2020 election?

[Nevilledog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/07/amazon-alexa-news-2020-election-misinformation/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/BTsMD


Amid concerns the rise of artificial intelligence will supercharge the spread of misinformation comes a wild fabrication from a more prosaic source: Amazon’s Alexa, which declared that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Asked about fraud in the race — in which President Biden defeated former president Donald Trump with 306 electoral college votes — the popular voice assistant said it was “stolen by a massive amount of election fraud,” citing Rumble, a video streaming service favored by conservatives.

The 2020 races were “notorious for many incidents of irregularities and indications pointing to electoral fraud taking place in major metro centers,” according to Alexa, referencing Substack, a subscription newsletter service. Alexa contended that Trump won Pennsylvania, citing “an Alexa answers contributor.”

Multiple investigations into the 2020 election have revealed no evidence of fraud, and Trump faces federal criminal charges connected to his efforts to overturn the election. Yet Alexa disseminates misinformation about the race, even as parent company Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source to more than 70 million estimated users.

*snip*

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. When I ask Alexa

Who won the twenty twenty presidential election, She says Joe Biden.

[JanMichael]

2. Maybe it is like Chatgpt and is groomed to its user?

So yours would say Biden and someone who is a conspiracy nutter would say stolen?

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. You are probably correct

[durablend]

6. Nah, it's likely dependent on how the question is *worded*

[demmiblue]

3. ...

[struggle4progress]

5. Well, "artificial intelligence" is not "genuine intelligence" -- you dump in

some untested ingredients, add something to make it puff up, half bake it, and put on the the shelf with a big "New Improved Family-Size" sign, then hope not too many people go deaf, blind, sterile, or insane after consuming it