this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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I'm never putting one of these in my home.

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[–] auf@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

They are listening to you even when you're not talking to alexa, did you know that

[–] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Obviously. How else would it hear you say, "Alexa?"

[–] EnderMB@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd love a citation on this, outside of wakeword usage (a local device waiting for "Alexa* to begin recording).

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Source: their ass.

Alexa devices use an onboard DSP to detect the wakeword and maintain a rolling audio buffer. On a positive match, the DSP wakes the main CPU which combines the saved buffer and any following speech and uploads it to the cloud where Alexa lives so she can try to figure out what you meant.

No audio is uploaded without being triggered by a wakeword. Also, the "mute" button physically cuts power to the mic, and the indicator LED is hardwired to the power rail as a failsafe indicator.

[–] EnderMB@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, I know. For reference, I work at Amazon, so always interested in where these stories come from 😂

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

That was more for everyone else's edification. I worked on a plethora of Amazon devices over the course of a decade.

[–] AliceTheMinotaur@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Not going to get much out of me then, most of what Alexander hears is what's on the TV or music I listen to. If they want to train alexa on that, their fucked

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

What about just a firestick? That uses Alexa