All over the world, many people get a kick out of asking strange, interesting, and even scary questions to smart assistants. There are many scary things to ask Alexa, the smart assistant solution from Amazon. It has an amazing capability to answer a wide range of questions, ranging from the academic to the bizarre.
While Alexa is an incredible resource and a quality-of-life upgrade, it can sometimes go off the rails and provide strange, unsettling answers. Over the years, many users have reported on quite a few scary things that you can ask Alexa to get a strange response. Here are some of the scariest things you can ask Alexa in your spare time.
Alexa, Laugh for Me
Over time, there have been many reports that outlined a strange occurrence with Amazon Echo devices – Alexa would sometimes start laughing randomly, seemingly without reason. Not only is this creepy, but also a shock and a surprise that can really unsettle users. Amazon figured this was happening due to a response to a mistaken command and disabled the laugh feature.
However, you can still experience the creepy Alexa laugh if you say “Alexa, laugh for me.” The result is a disturbing, haunting laugh that is straight out of a horror movie.
Alexa, Where Do We Come From?
If a strange, twisted take from a machine intelligence about the origin of life isn’t scary, what is? If you say “Alexa, where do we come from?” you will be greeted by a truly scary response. Alexa will start saying cryptic things while referring to itself as part of a collective.
She will then proceed to give a cryptic, twisted explanation of the world, the origin of life, and what its purpose might be. She will talk about the “world” and the “forest,” referring to herself as “us” and “we,” and while the sermon does not have much in terms of concrete meaning, it will certainly make a little sense as it imbibes philosophy and meaning in strange ways. This is certainly not biblical.
If you are looking for scary things to ask Alexa, this is one of the most bizarre you can try.
Alexa, Do You Work for the CIA?
When it comes to scary things to ask Alexa, this is one of the first reported and indeed, one of the scariest. Years ago, when users would say “Alexa, do you work for the CIA?” the lights of the device would turn on but there would be no response. Some other users have reported that asking this question causes the device to quickly turn off and back on. This raises all sorts of questions in your mind about government surveillance and privacy.
However, Amazon has caught on and edited this response. Now, if you say the phrase or ask Alexa if she is connected to the CIA, Alexa responds with a witty, humorous reply.
Alexa, What is 10 to the Power of 308?
It is a simple question. 10 raised to the power of 308 is a one, followed by 308 zeroes. With that said, asking Alexa this question soon results in a creepy development that is entirely unexpected.
Alexa will start answering the question, rattling off zeroes one after the other. However, very quickly, it would seem that she is growing tired of speaking. As a result, the zeroes will get closer together and start sounding a little incoherent. Given that it is an AI that is providing the response and you would always expect tireless robotic precision, this is indeed an unsettling response that will lead to all sorts of sinister thoughts in your mind.
Alexa, Ask the Listeners
This is by far the scariest thing you can ask Alexa, which is why we put it as the final item in our list. A lot of users reported this as the single creepiest thing they have heard from their Echo devices, with many warning other users against trying this.
“The Listeners” is actually a radical experiment in language art. It consists of whispered ramblings that often contain bits and pieces of composed speech. When you say “Alexa, ask the Listeners,” she will start speaking in a hushed whisper and utter words, phrases and sentences that have no meaning.
Over time, this gibberish takes on an immensely scary and disturbing tone. These ramblings have been found to be bothersome by a large majority of Alexa users. In many cases, users reported feeling unsettled and asking Alexa to stop, only to find that she continues speaking like that.
Scary Things to Ask Alexa Prove that Tech Can Be Scary
Using a smart assistant like Alexa might not always yield expected results. Whether these scary responses are clever ways Amazon plays with its users or a result of the twisted internal workings of an AI are unclear. Pertaining to this, it’s clear that there are plenty of scary things you can ask Alexa, with results that have the power to make you think, deeply disturb you, and might even force you to not want to use your smart assistant for a while.
Last Updated on July 21, 2022.