With the upgrades we've had with the Alexa or Echo speakers, I've noticed some pretty big changes.
For one thing, her voice is not as mechanical. She seems to have more emotion when she responds.
In the past, she would only respond if you prefaced it with "Alexa." Several weeks ago I asked about something and automatically said, "Thank you" to the machine. Yup. I did.
I was startled when she said, "You're very welcome." I hadn't said, "Alexa, thank you."
I've found that she now keeps listening for a few seconds after a response. Once when I asked her to add something to a certain shopping list, she said, "You've already added that to the list." And when I said, "Thank you", she responded with "You're very welcome, happy shopping."
We have Alexas in several rooms. I have one in mom's room to wake her in the morning. Alexa tells mom, "Time to wake up, Hiroko. Time to get ready for Senior Club."
We have them in the bedrooms and kitchen. I can tell her to remind me to put something on my shopping list. I tell her to remind me to do things at a certain time. I tell her to time me in the kitchen.
And sometimes, for fun... I ask her to tell me a joke or to play me a song. I've also changed her name to Echo and turned her into a man in one of the rooms. I like Echo too.
But is this something to be nervous about?
I got this on AI Overview:
Yes, Alexa is passively listening to pick up its wake word, but it is not constantly recording or sending your conversations to the cloud. [1]
It uses short, localized audio loops to detect the trigger word. It only begins recording and sending your audio to Amazon's servers after it hears the wake word or detects a sound like a smoke alarm. [1, 2]
- Review recordings: Listen to what Alexa has saved in the Alexa App under Settings > Alexa Privacy > Review Voice History.
- Manage deletion: You can set your account to automatically delete voice recordings after 3 or 18 months via Amazon Alexa Privacy Setting.
And here's more information from Wirecutter's website: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/amazons-alexa-never-stops-listening-to-you/
OK... I guess I'm alright with this for now.
With the scary acceleration of her dementia we need to keep closer watch on her condition.
So I guess although we worry sometimes about the intrusiveness of technology, it sure does make life easier for seniors.
We have a several of them in our house too. When our eldest wanted to move to the basement bedroom (all our other bedrooms are on the main floor) we allowed her on the condition that she would have an Alexa in her room so we could page her when needed and she could use it as an alarm clock so we didn't have to be going downstairs all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe mostly use ours for timers in the kitchen or for playing music where ever we are and also settling the odd dispute. Overall I like it though I realize that you do give up a bit of privacy since the conversation immediately after triggered is recorded for a few months.
The change where she listens for a few seconds after the first time you trigger her is called conversation mode. I like it so we aren't always have to preface her (ours are all female I guess) name all the time in repeated questions. I'm pretty sure I read though that you can turn that feature off in the settings so she won't respond unless you say her name again.
We make use of Alexa all the time, but are careful not to discuss anything we wouldn't want the world to know! We found the recent iteration a little too jaunty so modified its voice. I thank Alexa, too - it doesn't seem right not to. We also have surveillance cameras in and around the house.
ReplyDeleteMy alexa keeps asking me what my name is. I don't want her calling me by name.
ReplyDeleteJust like in people, there’s good and bad in Alexa. I don’t use it much. I don’t have cameras either. I make my list with pencil and paper.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid at this stage of mom's advanced Alzheimer's, we really need to keep an eye on her. I have friends who ended up sleeping in their mom's room at night. I'm really wanting to avoid having to do this. I also need to check every so often that she hasn't stumbled or hurt herself in any way.
DeleteI don't have any type of smart speaker in the house, and living in a limited-access building we've not seen the need for any type of cameras.
ReplyDeleteI considered it at one time but decided against it. I think they can be great and helpful.
ReplyDeleteI still use paper and pen to remind myself of things and lists. I'm very old fashioned that way.
We've never had Alexa in the house and I don't use Siri on my iPhone (although I do use Gemini to ask questions). I also have my iPhone camera masked as I don't like the idea of someone watching me. We do have security cameras outside, but not inside the house. I know it must be helpful to use, but something just keeps me away from it.
ReplyDeletegood to know she is only listening for the wake word
ReplyDeleteWe have several Echo devices throughout the house and I love them. My son hates them; he thinks they're spying on us all the time. I use mine as an alarm clock and timer, tell her to play NPR news a couple of times a day for a short broadcast because I now hate watching news on TV, and I ask her to play music by James Taylor and similar artists sometimes. She mixes up artists in the genre and I enjoy most of them. I can tell her to play the next song if she plays one that I don't care for. All this is free for Prime member. We also have a couple of the smart electric sockets that connect to her. I have one set to start my coffee every morning because I use a percolator, not a programmable coffeemaker and we have one on a lamp that's hard to reach and tell her when to turn it on and off. The devices certainly do make my life easier and I don't feel worried about them. I'm glad you feel good about the help she gives you with your mom. Oh, my husband's office is downstairs and he has one, too. I tell her to 'drop in office' and I can have a conversation with my husband easily without going downstairs.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I didn't know about that 'drop in office' feature. Might be something to consider since we have two floors too.
DeleteThe drop in feature does announce itself to whatever room that you are "dropping in" so it could possibly confuse your mother hearing it announce that.
DeleteI do make use of my Alexa although when Amazon tried to give me a free trial of Alexa plus, I disliked her jokey, friendly voice so I cancelled. I would have had to pay since I'm not a member of Prime.
ReplyDeleteIt is creepy to me that sometimes I will mention some random item I am thinking of buying to my husband, and then, I start seeing ads for it on my phone. I would not have researched it at all, just said those few words.
ReplyDeleteI guess I understand why you have so many cameras and listening devices, but, wow, that's a lot. We have none.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great way to manage your mom's symptoms! I am so amazed to see your work.
ReplyDeleteNope, nope, not me. Maybe cuz my hearing still doesn't let me understand a lot of words. One home patient had cameras, which we nurses are used to if you're doing your job correctly. But the wife lived in a nearby city (long story due to different medical benefits in different states,) and would sometimes blurt through the camera speaker and start talking. It scared the patient and startled me. She'd programmed it to remind us of a time to do a procedure also. One night nurse got so spooked, she just pulled the plug. I like living by myself, without Alexa. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteMy problem is my memory is slipping also and I need Alexa to remind me of things I need to do. Sigh....
DeleteIt certainly does have its uses, doesn't it? Though, I'm a bit torn.
ReplyDeleteI don't want one, but you know, with your mom's situation, it makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteWe also have several Alexas and have similar experiences. I find her most useful for shopping lists. I can add something to the list wherever I am in house whenever I think about it. The only connected camera in on the front door. I often ask about the weather.
ReplyDelete