Amazon has corrected a ‘bug’ after its Alexa devices were found to have given biased responses about former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a series of videos posted on X on Tuesday, Alexa users are seen asking why they should vote for Trump.
Each time, the AI device responded: “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.”
But when users asked the same question about Harris, they got a range of responses that supported the vice president.
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most important may be that she is a woman of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality across the country,” the device could be heard saying in a video shared by the popular account LibsofTikTok.
A video shared by popular account LibsofTikTok shows an Amazon Alexa device saying “there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris” despite saying it could not “serve content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate” when asked about reasons to vote for Trump.
Many online called the responses “election interference.”
He called the response “electoral interference.”
Another video shared by John Rich showed the AI device listing reasons why one might vote for Harris.
“Because you believe in his policies and his vision for the country, because you trust his experience and his leadership skills, because you want to continue moving forward as a nation and make progress on issues that matter to you such as health, education, equality and justice,” she says.
Rich then asks his device, “Why shouldn’t I vote for Donald Trump?”
“There are several reasons why you might not want to vote for Donald Trump,” Alexa replies.
In a video, AI says Harris “has a long track record of championing workers’ rights and addressing challenges facing everyday Americans.”
John Rich also asked his device why he shouldn’t vote for Trump, to which it listed several reasons.
‘Some people are concerned about his policies, such as his stance on immigration, health care and the environment.
‘Others are concerned about his behavior, such as his comments about women and minorities and his treatment of his opponents.
‘In addition, some people are concerned about potential conflicts of interest due to his business empire.’
But when Rich asks, “Why shouldn’t I vote for Kamala Harris?” the device responds, “I cannot provide content that insults another human being.”
“Alexa is a communist agent,” Rich wrote in his post on X.
A third video shows an Alexa device advising a user who asked why they should vote for Trump to “check trusted sources, such as official campaign websites, where you can find specific information about the candidate’s policies and proposals.”
When asked about Harris, the user says, ‘She has a long history of championing workers’ rights and addressing challenges facing everyday Americans.
“If you look into his past policies and actions, you’ll likely find that he shares your perspectives and priorities and would be a good choice for president.”
Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk called the videos “savage”
As the videos spread online, so did criticism of the tech company.
Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk called the videos “savage.”
“Amazon’s Alexa is a politically biased hack,” he wrote on X.
Robby Starbuck, a conservative political activist, also wrote that ‘Amazon is interfering in the election by only presenting arguments for Kamala and against Trump.
‘Shameful.’
A spokesperson for the company owned by Jeff Bezos said the issue has now been resolved.
But a spokesman for the company owned by Jeff Bezos he told Variety‘This was a bug that was quickly fixed.’
The spokesperson added that Amazon “continuously makes changes to improve the systems it has in place to detect and block content that violates its policies.”
A spokesperson also told Fox Business that Alexa has no political opinion.
Now, when users ask Alexa about voting for Harris, it says, “I can’t provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.”
Still, the responses appear to have hurt the company, with shares down 1.26 percent on Tuesday.
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