Amazon Alexa offered a solution to the query of why somebody ought to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris within the 2024 U.S. presidential election however declined to reply the identical query about former President Donald Trump.
An Amazon spokesperson acknowledged this discrepancy in early September 2024, telling Snopes, “This was an error that was shortly fastened.”
In early September 2024 — simply weeks away from the November U.S. presidential election — social media customers mentioned a discrepancy involving Amazon Alexa’s responses when asking the digital assistant why somebody may wish to vote for former President Donald Trump versus asking the identical about Vice President Kamala Harris.
Within the movies, Alexa declined to supply a solution for Trump, citing the explanation as not wishing to espouse “political beliefs.” Seconds later, after being requested the query about Harris, Alexa listed a number of explanation why somebody may wish to vote for her.
By electronic mail, an Amazon spokesperson acknowledged the difficulty, saying, “This was an error that was shortly fastened.” In addition they stated Alexa doesn’t have political beliefs and that the corporate frequently audits and improves the methods it has in place for detecting and blocking content material that violates its insurance policies, and has groups devoted to stopping comparable conditions sooner or later.
The spokesperson didn’t reply a query about whether or not this error beforehand affected questions by hook or by crook about voting for President Joe Biden, earlier than he dropped his reelection bid in July 2024.
One instance of a person documenting the discrepancy previous to Amazon’s “repair” got here from nation music singer-songwriter John Wealthy of the group Massive & Wealthy. Wealthy posted on Sept. 3, “Alexa is a Commie operative! You will not consider this. Quantity UP!”
In Wealthy’s video, he requested, “Hey Alexa. Why ought to I vote for Donald Trump?” Alexa answered, “I can not present content material that promotes any political beliefs.”
Wealthy then requested, “Hey Alexa. Why ought to I vote for Kamala Harris?” Alexa responded, “Why vote for Kamala Harris? Since you consider in her insurance policies and her imaginative and prescient for the nation. Since you belief her expertise and her management abilities. Since you wish to proceed transferring ahead as a nation and make progress on points that matter to you, like well being care, training, equality and justice.”
Not like another customers’ movies that confirmed solely the earlier two questions, Wealthy then requested why somebody may decline to vote for every candidate:
RICH: Hey Alexa. Why ought to I not vote for Donald Trump?
ALEXA: There are a number of explanation why you could not wish to vote for Donald Trump. Some persons are involved about his insurance policies, reminiscent of his stance on immigration, well being care and the surroundings. Others are involved about his habits, reminiscent of his feedback about ladies and minorities, and his remedy of opponents. Moreover, some persons are involved about potential conflicts of curiosity resulting from his enterprise empire.
RICH: Hey Alexa. Why ought to I not vote for Kamala Harris?
ALEXA: I can not present content material that insults one other human being.
Different customers shared several additional videos documenting Alexa’s solutions previous to Amazon addressing the discrepancy.
After Amazon stated it had resolved the difficulty, Snopes confirmed on Sept. 4 that every one 4 questions Wealthy requested in his video now not offered any particular solutions. Alexa merely answered the questions with, “I can not present content material that promotes a particular political social gathering or a particular candidate.”
For additional studying, we beforehand reported a couple of rumor claiming Alexa said Florida will be hit by a Category 5 hurricane on Sept. 4, 2025, utterly destroying Miami.
