Hey there! Have you heard the latest news from Amazon? They’ve just announced some exciting updates to their popular virtual assistant, Alexa. But hold on a second, there’s a catch. These new features come at a cost. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into what these updates entail and explore the implications they may have on you. Whether you’re an Alexa enthusiast or someone concerned about privacy, this is a post you won’t want to miss.
Amazon Announces New Alexa Updates
Amazon recently made an announcement about some exciting updates coming to Alexa, their popular virtual assistant. These updates are expected to enhance the overall user experience and offer new features that will make our lives even more convenient. With Alexa becoming an integral part of many households, these updates are eagerly anticipated by millions of users.
These updates allow people to have an actual continuous conversation with Alexa. Alexa will also remember information about you, and use that for future conversations. An example that Amazon gave was someone asking Alexa to chat, then asking about their soccer team. Alexa knew to continue the conversation past the first prompt, then knew what soccer team was being referred to.
… At the Cost of Privacy
Amazon will know more about you
This all sounds like technological magic, and like the future that we have dreamed of. Soon we’ll have smart homes that remember our favorite things and know more about us – but hold on.
If Alexa knows more about us, this means Amazon knows this information too. Now, I don’t want to just pick on Amazon here, ANY smart home hub that knows more information about us and is sending that data home to be processed will have access to that same information about us. Our favorite soccer team, our favorite toothpaste, our medical issues, our fears, our worries, our dreams. It’s all a bit concerning.
Alexa will always be listening
Another concern is the change to a “constantly listening” mode. For example, in one demo a person is holding a conversation with Alexa. They leave and return a moment later, and continue the conversation. This may not seem like a big deal, we do this all the time with people. However, with devices like Alexa, to be able to do this they need to be constantly recording the world around them and processing that data to determine if it’s actionable or not. “This is made possible by on-device visual processing and acoustic models working in concert trying to determine whether you’re addressing the device or someone else in the room,” Rohit Prasad, SVP and head AI scientist at Amazon.
Amazon will use your information to train their AI models
Another blow to privacy with Amazon Alexa is the news that your voice recordings will be used to train Amazon’s AI model. This is really bad news for people concerned with privacy. Once your data has been used to train a LLM model, it can’t be deleted from the model without deleting the model completely and starting again. With how expensive a LLM model is to train, Amazon is not likely to be deleting AI models just because you want your data deleted. More likely is the data will be “anonymized” – your IP will be stripped and any specifically identifying information, but your demographics will remain. Then that semi-anonymized data will be used to train the LLM models. This is better than all of your data being used, but it does mean that if someone wants to filter down enough to a unique set of demographics, they would be able to find your information, or something really similar to it.
Why Privacy Matters
So, why does privacy matter so much? We’ve all heard stories ( or experienced firsthand ) how we talk about a thing, and the next thing we know we’re bombarded by ads for it. Cars, toothpaste, whatever. With Alexa constantly listening, it’ll be this, but more. There won’t even be the veneer of privacy that we have now. Instead, Alexa will be asking us if we want to buy that toothpaste that we were talking about with our friend the other day.
Also, with Alexa constantly recording, what is she going to hear that we don’t want heard? Medical information, money issues, our children, and many other sensitive issues will all be captured by Alexa. And unlike doctors and hospitals, smart home devices aren’t required to comply with HIPPA protections. This means Amazon can share or sell your information to whoever they choose – your employers, insurance providers, or drug vendors.
Overall, these Alexa updates have sparked a heated debate about the trade-off between convenience and privacy. While the updates may offer enhanced functionality and a more personalized user experience, it comes at the cost of sacrificing our privacy. As users, it is important to be aware of the potential risks and to take steps to protect our privacy when using smart home devices like Alexa.
In Summary
Thank you so much for taking the time to read our blog post about the pending Alexa updates and the privacy concerns with them. We hope that you found the information provided insightful and thought-provoking. It is crucial to stay informed about the advancements in technology, such as the updates to Amazon’s Alexa, and the potential implications they may have on our privacy. As consumers, it is essential to weigh the benefits of these innovations against the potential risks to our personal data. We encourage you to continue to educate yourself and engage in the ongoing conversation surrounding privacy in the digital age.
