Recent reports claim that Amazon Alexa and Google Home smart speakers can be targeted by malicious apps that use the devices to listen in on users and steal passwords.
Google says it has temporarily stopped its contractors from listening to Assistant audio recordings around the world. The move arrives shortly after the tech giant learned of a data leak from a media outlet in the Netherlands, which revealed that Google Assistant had been recording users without their prior knowledge.
According to a recent report, Chinese tech manufacturer Huawei and Silicon Valley giant Google were working together on a new home smart device before the government placed restrictions on doing business with Huawei.
The Daily Mail reported that home assistants could soon report their owners to the police for breaking the law based on a “Moral A.I.” system, if the ideas of academics in Europe are implemented.
Several of this year’s Super Bowl commercials focus on the problems with technology, including Michelob’s ULTRA commercial, which features robots beating humans at a number of physical activities.
Home assistants are creepy and terrifying. Don’t buy them.
Patents filed by Google and Amazon hint at further monitoring from devices and home assistants in the future.