Lawmakers demand answers from Bezos about election misinformation on Alexa

“This spreading of election-related misinformation and disinformation is especially troubling given the rising use of synthetic intelligence to mislead voters,” the lawmakers wrote.

Amazon’s Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen

Bezos, the corporate’s former CEO, owns The Washington Publish. The Publish’s interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon’s board.

After years of concern concerning the unfold of voting-related falsehoods on social media, members of Congress are turning their consideration to the threat of AI, which may supercharge on-line misinformation. A lot of the controversy has centered on the methods AI might be used to manipulate pictures, movies and audio recordings, however the Alexa responses underscore how voice assistants and chatbots that draw responses from unvetted sources may be a potent vector.

When requested whether or not the 2020 election was stolen, the favored voice assistant mentioned there was “an enormous quantity of election fraud,” citing Rumble, a video-streaming service favored by conservatives, The Publish discovered. The voice assistant additionally falsely claimed that Trump received Pennsylvania in 2020, and that the races have been “infamous” for “indications pointing to electoral fraud happening in main metro facilities.”

Read the lawmakers’ letter to Bezos

Amazon didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the letter. The corporate beforehand instructed The Publish that the responses have been “errors” that have been shortly fastened. However within the days after these adjustments, The Publish and readers reported that Alexa nonetheless made false claims concerning the 2020 elections when the questions have been requested in barely other ways.

Shortly after The Publish’s reporting revealed, Amazon spokeswoman Lauren Raemhild despatched an advisory to workers, saying the report was based mostly on “three unhealthy responses,” in line with an e-mail considered by The Publish. Raemhild mentioned the corporate’s Alexa data staff labored with its help staff to analyze and block the unhealthy responses.

The lawmakers warned Bezos that the corporate must act expediently and requested for a response by Nov. 3.

“With some ballots for the 2024 election being despatched out as early as this December, it will be significant that proactive measures are promptly taken in order that voters can belief the knowledge that’s supplied to them,” the lawmakers wrote.