Alexa & autistic voices? A left field question

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firemonkey
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01 Oct 2021, 4:59 pm

Every now and then I ask Alexa to do something and she ignores me. Today I asked her to stop the alarm . It took about 5-6 attempts for the alarm to stop! Is there something about the autistic voice that Alexa has problems with?



kraftiekortie
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01 Oct 2021, 5:35 pm

I don't believe there is a specific "special voice" that autistic people have. I used to think my voice sounded funny----but, eventually, I realized that I have a pretty "normal" voice. Alexa responds well to me.

Alexa is an American "woman"; perhaps she doesn't understand the British accent?



firemonkey
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01 Oct 2021, 5:40 pm

Mine has an English accent.



kraftiekortie
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01 Oct 2021, 5:42 pm

Maybe she has to get used to your voice? Or maybe enunciate your syllables? Sometimes, I clump my syllables together, so people and Alexas don't understand me.

I doubt very much it's your "autistic voice" that's causing her not to respond.



Joe90
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01 Oct 2021, 5:53 pm

Robots aren't all they're cracked up to be. I try not to rely on computerized objects to do thinking for me, because they're 100% too logical. I've never used Alexa before, or even seen one.

It's like when typing in an email address to send an email to someone, if you miss one dot or something, it won't send at all, and depending on the circumstances it can cause great inconvenience. But if you post a letter and you get one number or letter mixed up in the area code or something, usually the mailman recognises the other information and knows which door to post it through. A computer can't do that. One dot is missing from an email and if there's no way of contacting the person you're sending the email to and it's important, then you're screwed. The other person may never get the email.


Also my dad once had a deal where he didn't have to pay a certain bill for a month, but the bill still came in the mail, and although it said £0.00 he still had to confirm it online. But it confused the computer and kept telling him something like "you have not sent any payment. Please pay £0.00 to continue". Frustrated was an understatement. :roll:


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Mountain Goat
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01 Oct 2021, 6:16 pm

Alexa is supposed to think for humans? What is the advantage of that?


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kraftiekortie
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01 Oct 2021, 6:17 pm

Alexa is a product made by Amazon which responds to your requests to do things.

You have to be connected to WiFi in order for it to work.

You can ask Alexa, for example, to play you a certain song.



Mountain Goat
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01 Oct 2021, 6:21 pm

Alexa. Go to the toilet for me. :D

Is Alex like Holly on Red Dwarf?


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kraftiekortie
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01 Oct 2021, 6:36 pm

Alexa wouldn't do that for me :)

I've never heard of "Holly."



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01 Oct 2021, 6:49 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
Alexa wouldn't do that for me :)

I've never heard of "Holly."


Didn't you see Red Dwarf on thursday nights in the 1990's?


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kraftiekortie
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01 Oct 2021, 6:50 pm

I'm probably too old for it----and I'm not from the UK.

I watched cartoons in the 60s and 70s.



Mountain Goat
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01 Oct 2021, 6:52 pm

I think you will like it. It is a space program like Star Trek but different.


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naturalplastic
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01 Oct 2021, 8:10 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:
I think you will like it. It is a space program like Star Trek but different.


I am sure Sci Fi shows have featured Alexa type devices for decades. Just like Capt Kirk used cell phones in the Sixties.

You speak to Alexa and she does stuff. If you're too lazy to turn off a light switch- you say "Alexa turn off the light switch", and she does it. I dont have Alexa. In fact Im a primitive stone age bushman who still uses DVDs.

I am sure you can program Alexa to speak in and understand either British, or in American, like you can GPS.

The guy who drives my carpool had to reboot all of his automobile apps one day including GPS. And by mistake he caused the lady voice of the GPS to switch to a British accent. I prefer it because now she sounds...sexier (like Elizabeth Hurley). And we all laugh at her mispronounciations. Actually the American voice butchered place names just as much, but not as cutely.



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01 Oct 2021, 8:19 pm

But DVD's are modern aren't they?

We still use audio casettes, videos and records here, though they have stopped selling videos and casettes, though someone said they still do records? They do still sell DVD's don't they as they have not been out for long.


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Joe90
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01 Oct 2021, 9:12 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:
But DVD's are modern aren't they?

We still use audio casettes, videos and records here, though they have stopped selling videos and casettes, though someone said they still do records? They do still sell DVD's don't they as they have not been out for long.


For some reason huge records are back in again, and stores like HMV are full of records. I suppose that's OK if you're into that sort of thing, but because most people these days prefer to make money buying and selling old collectibles on eBay and other online websites, you'd have thought HMV wouldn't bother to fill half the store up with records.

Maybe videos will make a comeback one day.

Some kids today have never actually heard of a DVD, sadly. When I last saw my niece (then 4), I bought her a DVD of Peppa Pig because I knew she loved Peppa Pig, but she was always watching cartoons and things on Netflix or on a phone screen, and she had no idea what a DVD was. Her mum put it into the DVD-player and when the title screen came on she started pressing the TV screen thinking that the TV becomes a giant touchscreen pad when you insert a DVD into it. So I bet she definitely wouldn't know what a video or a tape cassette is. Makes me feel like an old grandmother.


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naturalplastic
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01 Oct 2021, 9:29 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:
But DVD's are modern aren't they?

We still use audio casettes, videos and records here, though they have stopped selling videos and casettes, though someone said they still do records? They do still sell DVD's don't they as they have not been out for long.


I was exaggerating slightly.

I am with you. I still taped shows on VHS tapes until my old TV (with a built in dvd player AND tape player) crapped out only a year ago. And I still play cassettes and vinyl records. I even drive an old car that has a working tape player.

I get the impression that Britain is a little behind the US in consumer stuff. So though I stand out as odd here in the states I might not stand out as much as a luddite where you live.

But here in the states folks more and more do "streaming" and less and less rely on physical media (even DVDs and CDs).

And as Joe explained some small children dont even know from DVDs.