Decades of science fiction films have taught us that technology will eventually become sentient and take over humanity. With new inventions every day, it's hard to imagine a point where at least one sci-fi flick's plot comes true.
We've already been freaked out by dog-like robots opening doors, but the newest fear is something a lot closer to home.
People have been reporting their Alexa machines have been spontaneously laughing without any interaction to set her off. Imagine sitting on your couch, reading a book, and Alexa bursts out with a few cackles.
Does she know something we don't? Did she just remember one of her dozens of jokes and could help by chuckle? Or is she secretly plotting the end of humanity and can't help but laugh about our grisly end?
One person on Reddit wrote: "I was trying to turn off some lights and they kept turning back on. After the third request, Alexa stopped responding and instead did an evil laugh.
"The laugh wasn't in the Alexa voice. It sounded like a real person. My wife was there when it happened and she is the only person who can drop-in. I still get chills."
Another added: "The alarm came on this morning however we had the flu and was miserable. I told Alexa to turn off the alarm and upon the second request she gave us the most chilling witch-like laugh.
"It scared the wife and my five-year-old so badly that we unplugged her."
But that's not the only thing Alexa has been doing that has been freaking people out. It seems as though the virtual assistant pipes up randomly, again without a prompt, causing people to turn their machine off quicker than you can say, 'Hey Alexa'
Surely this is the start of a 2001: A Space Odyssey scenario.
If you're unfamiliar with the brilliant and legendary Stanley Kubrick plot, fear not, I've got you covered. Essentially, a spacecraft heads to Jupiter for a mission and while there are humans onboard, the ship's operations are controlled by the massive computer HAL 9000, which it claims it is 'fool proof and incapable of error'.
HAL ends up being a massive dick and kills virtually everyone through some dodgy tactics, cutting air supply or life-support features, until pilot Dr David Bowman shuts the robot killer down.
Alexa and every other assistant like her is essentially the baby of the HAL 9000.
At the moment they can control the lights in our homes, the songs on our speakers and the temperatures in our rooms. What if she 'accidentally' locks all our doors, severs all electronics and sparks a fire or something sinister like that?
They're coming for us, I tell you.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Funny, Technology, Weird, Amazon
