Alexa: Parents in UK who named their kids Alexa want Amazon to use a different name – Times of India

Amazon has got in some trouble, all because of the name it decided to give its voice assistant: Alexa. Now, parents in the UK who named their kids the same have gone after the tech giant to change the name of its AI-powered voice assistant to something that is non-human as their kids are being picked upon by bullies, as per a report by BBC.
Imagine your name being Alexa and that you are still in school. Someone calls you with your name only to issue a command like it is done to smart devices by Amazon. How would that feel? The bullies will have a field day with the Alexa jokes and may even get uncomfortably or disgustingly creative. The report says that even the adults are behind cracking Alexa jokes. Something of the sort seems to be happening to kids who have been named Alexa. So much that some parents have reportedly even changed the names of their kids.
The report says that there are more than 4,000 people called Alexa aged under 25 in the UK, and some of their parents have approached The BBC with similar stories of their children facing the brunt of jokes and being bullied.
Amazon says that it is “saddened” by the experiences these kids have had to face. The tech giant said in a statement to The BBC: “We designed our voice assistant to reflect qualities we value in people – being smart, considerate, empathetic, and inclusive. We’re saddened by the experiences you’ve shared, and want to be very clear: bullying of any kind is unacceptable, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Is Amazon actually going to change the wake word of its AI digital assistant? The tech giant says that besides Alexa, it also offers other words like Echo, Computer and Amazon. But the issue is with Alexa being the wake word. As long as it stays in the dictionary of Amazon, there is no stopping the jokes. But as of now, there is no confirmation that the company is going to scrap the name.