According to a report by BBC News, Amazon Alexa could have caused a lethal injury by giving out dangerous challenges.
In order to stave off boredom, some people have gone to great lengths – including asking the voice assistant for things to do or challenges to complete. The next step is to post their challenges on social media sites such as Meta, Instagram, or TikTok as proof of their feats. While most of these are harmless and humorous, some are very dangerous as we’re about to narrate.
The Penny Challenge or Outlet Challenge is one of those trends. Popularized in 2020, it involves inserting a plug into the wall socket halfway through, then touching the exposed metal portion with a coin in order to transmit the electricity to yourself. While this trend has no redeeming features whatsoever, it was a big deal last year but also caused injuries and house fires.
Unfortunately, according to the same BBC report, a 10-year old girl asked Amazon Alexa for a challenge and received clear instruction of the lethal penny challenge in response. Fortunately enough she did not push through with it, but the girl’s mother was livid and complained to Amazon regarding the recommendation. The company has since then addressed the issue in order to prevent a reoccurrence with a less lucky group of individuals.
Countless netizens and professionals have spoken out regarding these social media stunts because in today’s modern society they do more harm than good. Please remember to keep to clean safe fun this New Year’s season!
Featured image courtesy of Amazon
