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Post by Sysop3 on Apr 10, 2019 22:23:29 GMT -5
Amazon workers study conversations recorded by Alexa: reportAmazon employees working with the company's Alexa digital voice assistant reportedly review audio recorded from the homes of Amazon Echo users while they work to improve Alexa's voice recognition and command responses. Several employees told Bloomberg News that dozens of Amazon employees working out of countries such as India, Romania, Costa Rica and the U.S. listen to voice recordings taken by Amazon's Echo systems, which the workers then transcribe and annotate for use in Alexa's understanding of human speech patterns. The practice has exposed Amazon employees to recordings that would otherwise be private, according to Bloomberg. The outlet reported that Amazon employees have discussed in internal chat rooms amusing audio clips recorded by the Echo systems, as well as hearing recordings that are shocking or possibly criminal, such as possible sexual assaults, which two workers reported having heard. Amazon workers described to Bloomberg hearing other audio clips including a child screaming for help and a woman singing off key in the shower. Bloomberg noted that a frequently asked questions site detailing concerns about the Alexa software did not mention specifically that human beings would have access to audio files recorded in users' homes. “We use your requests to Alexa to train our speech recognition and natural language understanding systems,” the webpage reads. An Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg that precautions are taken to ensure that Amazon employees do not have access to identifying information about the owners overheard in the audio clips, and stressed that proper privacy protections were being observed. In Alexa's privacy settings, the company allows users to disable the use of their voice recordings for the development of new features. “We have strict technical and operational safeguards, and have a zero tolerance policy for the abuse of our system. Employees do not have direct access to information that can identify the person or account as part of this workflow. All information is treated with high confidentiality and we use multi-factor authentication to restrict access, service encryption and audits of our control environment to protect it," an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg. “We take the security and privacy of our customers’ personal information seriously,” the spokesman added. “We only annotate an extremely small sample of Alexa voice recordings in order [to] improve the customer experience." thehill.com/policy/technology/438358-amazon-workers-study-conversations-recorded-by-alexa
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Post by beth on Apr 11, 2019 12:33:02 GMT -5
Oh well ... to be honest, I don't care. As far as I know, we don't do anything illegal or shameful.
i wonder how the monitors would respond if someone screamed, "Alexa! Call the police and give them my address!"
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Post by mouse on Apr 12, 2019 3:56:44 GMT -5
theres a tv program about elderly people who have been in the public eye and are well known ... age range over 60 to 92.. actors/news readers/cricketers/singer/ etc.. its a program about how the old deal with new technology last week was electic and self drive cars and Alexa.. they were asking for a scone recipe.. alexa gave them hysterics by answering on subjects far far away from a scone mixture
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Post by beth on Apr 12, 2019 8:42:18 GMT -5
theres a tv program about elderly people who have been in the public eye and are well known ... age range over 60 to 92.. actors/news readers/cricketers/singer/ etc.. its a program about how the old deal with new technology last week was electic and self drive cars and Alexa.. they were asking for a scone recipe.. alexa gave them hysterics by answering on subjects far far away from a scone mixture I'm checking Jessie's audio book information. If it's as good as it sounds, that alone would be worthwhile. Now, I use it to turn on or off lights in other rooms when I'm busy and to check the weather forecast. My daughter says she's getting me a 3rd generation Alexa for Mother's Day. :) It's supposed to have Spotify, so we're hopeful it will play music from fret's albums.
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Post by Sysop3 on Apr 12, 2019 20:23:52 GMT -5
theres a tv program about elderly people who have been in the public eye and are well known ... age range over 60 to 92.. actors/news readers/cricketers/singer/ etc.. its a program about how the old deal with new technology last week was electic and self drive cars and Alexa.. they were asking for a scone recipe.. alexa gave them hysterics by answering on subjects far far away from a scone mixture I'm checking Jessie's audio book information. If it's as good as it sounds, that alone would be worthwhile. Now, I use it to turn on or off lights in other rooms when I'm busy and to check the weather forecast. My daughter says she's getting me a 3rd generation Alexa for Mother's Day. It's supposed to have Spotify, so we're hopeful it will play music from fret's albums. As far as I can tell, Audible just lets you "read" one book each month at $14.95 (per month). Seems like your local library could offer you a better deal than that.
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Post by beth on Apr 13, 2019 9:59:19 GMT -5
I'm checking Jessie's audio book information. If it's as good as it sounds, that alone would be worthwhile. Now, I use it to turn on or off lights in other rooms when I'm busy and to check the weather forecast. My daughter says she's getting me a 3rd generation Alexa for Mother's Day. :) It's supposed to have Spotify, so we're hopeful it will play music from fret's albums. As far as I can tell, Audible just lets you "read" one book each month at $14.95 (per month). Seems like your local library could offer you a better deal than that. I'm not sure this is as good as it seemed at first. I thought it was something like an audio book lending library, but it's probably just another way to make money for Amazon. The first month is pretty good. I got 3 books on audio (can play using Alexa or an Ap). Then, the second month ... and, I assume, from then on .. members only get 1 audio book for appx 15 dollars and anything over that cost more. If the books you choose are priced higher than that - and I'll admit most are - it's still a good deal, but if you listen to your book frequently, you could easily run through 2, 3 or 4 each month! That's where it gets pricey. So, if you decide to do this and want to get your moneys worth. Pick long books.
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Post by annaj26 on Apr 13, 2019 12:49:25 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, Audible just lets you "read" one book each month at $14.95 (per month). Seems like your local library could offer you a better deal than that. I'm not sure this is as good as it seemed at first. I thought it was something like an audio book lending library, but it's probably just another way to make money for Amazon. The first month is pretty good. I got 3 books on audio (can play using Alexa or an Ap). Then, the second month ... and, I assume, from then on .. members only get 1 audio book for appx 15 dollars and anything over that cost more. If the books you choose are priced higher than that - and I'll admit most are - it's still a good deal, but if you listen to your book frequently, you could easily run through 2, 3 or 4 each month! That's where it gets pricey. So, if you decide to do this and want to get your moneys worth. Pick long books. Actually, one a month might do it for me if it's a good book. I usually pull 2 or 3 late nights a month. I could listen to 3 or 4 hours in each one of those and finish up an average to long best seller. The book Jessie mentions sounds right up my alley.
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Jessiealan
xr
Member of the Month, October 2013
Posts: 8,726
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Post by Jessiealan on Apr 14, 2019 0:15:25 GMT -5
It depends on how you want to use it. I usually have a nap in the afternoon so that is a good time to play a chapter of the audio book. That way, it lasts me at least one week, and longer ones could last a month.
I browsed today and found they offer everything from the New York Times best sellers to the classics. They also have many non fictions and biographies. I have put the biography of Alexander Hamilton on my list.
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Post by mouse on Apr 14, 2019 3:56:53 GMT -5
why not just buy books.... this really is another un-neceasry plastic toy.. using up resources.. I thought we were supposed to be looking after the planet in regard to those who go on about climate change and others who go on about pollution shouldn't these things be on a no no list on several levels,.. the machinery need to construct and the on going electricity needed to make it work
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Post by Dex on Apr 14, 2019 19:26:28 GMT -5
why not just buy books.... this really is another un-neceasry plastic toy.. using up resources.. I thought we were supposed to be looking after the planet in regard to those who go on about climate change and others who go on about pollution shouldn't these things be on a no no list on several levels,.. the machinery need to construct and the on going electricity needed to make it work Audio books are nothing new, mouse. They've been around a long time. If that's your attitude, why not dump the computers and go back to getting the news from paper sources. You stick to what you like and don't trouble yourself about what other people enjoy. If you have a fear electronics will bring on climate change, start a thread about it. If you can't handle Alexa, give her to somebody else who would enjoy the novelty.
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Post by annaj26 on Apr 15, 2019 0:22:28 GMT -5
why not just buy books.... this really is another un-neceasry plastic toy.. using up resources.. I thought we were supposed to be looking after the planet in regard to those who go on about climate change and others who go on about pollution shouldn't these things be on a no no list on several levels,.. the machinery need to construct and the on going electricity needed to make it work mouse, books are what cause pile ups. My mom and dad have boxes and boxes of books in their attic. They have both been life long readers. They will sort them every now and then and give a few away but except for that what is their benefit. They have a crammed full book case in their bedroom, too. I try not to let that same thing happen to me by buying paperbacks and pitching them when I've read them or donating them to hospitals and other give-away places but some,I hate to let go. With the audio books, I can keep my favorites stored, then go back to my account and take them out anytime to reread. It's really the best way to go.
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Post by mouse on Apr 15, 2019 3:58:26 GMT -5
why not just buy books.... this really is another un-neceasry plastic toy.. using up resources.. I thought we were supposed to be looking after the planet in regard to those who go on about climate change and others who go on about pollution shouldn't these things be on a no no list on several levels,.. the machinery need to construct and the on going electricity needed to make it work Audio books are nothing new, mouse. They've been around a long time. If that's your attitude, why not dump the computers and go back to getting the news from paper sources. You stick to what you like and don't trouble yourself about what other people enjoy. If you have a fear electronics will bring on climate change, start a thread about it. If you can't handle Alexa, give her to somebody else who would enjoy the novelty. yes we do actually know about audio books over here .. my Alexa is in a draw..once the novelty wears off theres really not a lot of use for it as yet.. give it 5 or so years when Alexa will come along and combine many things in ONE packet ..now that would be worth having Dex wrote" If you have a fear electronics will bring on climate change, oh Dex,, that made me roar with laughter.... my point is if the planet is sinking under mountains of plastic and pollution... what is the point of yet another un-necessary toy....to add to the already un-necessary toys we already pocess its about the hypocracy via technology and sadly any thing which makes profit will win.. regardless of how much damage will be done producing it... even recycled plastics cause some pollution and then theres the electricity needed to work all these gagets
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Post by mouse on Apr 15, 2019 4:16:35 GMT -5
why not just buy books.... this really is another un-neceasry plastic toy.. using up resources.. I thought we were supposed to be looking after the planet in regard to those who go on about climate change and others who go on about pollution shouldn't these things be on a no no list on several levels,.. the machinery need to construct and the on going electricity needed to make it work mouse, books are what cause pile ups. My mom and dad have boxes and boxes of books in their attic. They have both been life long readers. They will sort them every now and then and give a few away but except for that what is their benefit. They have a crammed full book case in their bedroom, too. I try not to let that same thing happen to me by buying paperbacks and pitching them when I've read them or donating them to hospitals and other give-away places but some,I hate to let go. With the audio books, I can keep my favorites stored, then go back to my account and take them out anytime to reread. It's really the best way to go. I understand what your saying absolutely Anna, however my point is we now have so many un-necessary toys and they all need charging up with electricity...and they all need to be manufactured etc etc.... my point is that if we are serious about pollution then we have to start looking at all the toys we buy and use which have impact on our planet and weed out those which are not necessary and which are luxuries computers and computerisation.. I would say that personal computers are just as necessary as systems in schools/armed services and hospitals for information/learning/and means of comuni cation and an aid to the housebound and lonely un-nesscesary are patio and out door heaters..and houses and cities lit up like Christmas trees... at some point we will have to prioritise because water is running out and the making of electricity will have a saturation point
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Post by Dex on Apr 15, 2019 8:59:25 GMT -5
mouse, books are what cause pile ups. My mom and dad have boxes and boxes of books in their attic. They have both been life long readers. They will sort them every now and then and give a few away but except for that what is their benefit. They have a crammed full book case in their bedroom, too. I try not to let that same thing happen to me by buying paperbacks and pitching them when I've read them or donating them to hospitals and other give-away places but some,I hate to let go. With the audio books, I can keep my favorites stored, then go back to my account and take them out anytime to reread. It's really the best way to go. I understand what your saying absolutely Anna, however my point is we now have so many un-necessary toys and they all need charging up with electricity...and they all need to be manufactured etc etc.... my point is that if we are serious about pollution then we have to start looking at all the toys we buy and use which have impact on our planet and weed out those which are not necessary and which are luxuries computers and computerisation.. I would say that personal computers are just as necessary as systems in schools/armed services and hospitals for information/learning/and means of comuni cation and an aid to the housebound and lonely un-nesscesary are patio and out door heaters..and houses and cities lit up like Christmas trees... at some point we will have to prioritise because water is running out and the making of electricity will have a saturation point I don't think audio books are going to take us to any kind of saturation point, mouse. Also, you might want to consider - advances provide jobs for people who need them. You've lived longer than I have so you might see things differently, but I can't think of a time we've ever gone backwards. Enjoy audio books and find something else to worry about.
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Post by Sysop3 on Apr 15, 2019 9:20:34 GMT -5
mouse, you might as well say, "take away our TV sets and give us back our radios". If you don't want to use audio books, that's no reason to begrudge other people who do.
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