Amazon has also been using Alexa itself to nudge consumers to use the system in new ways. In recent years the devices have begun suggesting new requests that people could make, in the process of fulfilling whatever function they actually did request. Annoyed customers have struggled to turn off the feature. (There’s no easy way to do so, but fiddling with settings can significantly reduce the unwanted chattiness, according to an article published on the tech news website CNET in June.) “Almost every day after I ask quick things, I get, ‘By the way, I can recommend birthday gift ideas so you can buy more things from Amazon! Wouldn’t you love to hear that??’” an Alexa user complained in a recent Reddit post. “No, Alexa, the answer has always been no. Just tell me the temperature.” That kind of frustration might explain why some people unplug their speaker and toss it into a closet.

Anand, P. (2021, December 22). Amazon’s Alexa Stalled With Users as Interest Faded, Documents Show. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-22/amazon-s-voice-controlled-smart-speaker-alexa-can-t-hold-customer-interest-docs