Interesting story.

So I am at work, in between patients. My phone rings, and it is a neighbor calling. Then as I said “HI” she hung up. I became concerned. Firstly she has never called me on my phone before, and secondly despite repeated tries she was now not picking up her cellphone. My concern turned to worry and I decided to zip into my car and get to her house to make sure she was ok. Luckily I was at the office location nearest her house otherwise this was certainly a much more nerve racking experience.

As I was racing up the street, I tried calling again, and her daughter responded stating that she was fine and it was an accidental dial. Relieved I turned the car round and charged back to clinic. I wrote to her a little text explaining my concerns and what had happened. She kindly responded with an explanation. Here is the interesting part.

Her daughter was not feeling well and had had some chest pain symptoms overnight. She asked “Alexa” what would cause that and she then proceeded to tell her her daughter to call the doctor. Except Alexa was listening and said “calling Dr Bhatnagar.” And dialed me !! It was too late to stop Alexa and so I got the call.

I thought this was amusing as a few years ago another Alexa mishap was reported in the news. Some child had wanted a dollhouse but the parents had refused. But Alexa had overheard this and ordered the Dollhouse. Obviously this confusion was cleared up, but the local news had heard about it and reported it on their channel. Well when the newscaster imitated the request “ Alexa I want ….dollhouse”, the homes that had the TV on, and Alexas, also ordered dollhouses for all of those families !!

Much as I know that my phone is always listening, I refuse to bring another listening device into my house. There is so much of surveillance anyway I find it hard to bring a device under the guise of smart technology and conveniences. If the world is monitoring our responses and literally our thoughts, then who is monitoring our own thoughts and inner voices?

Do we have an internal Alexa that is able to respond by listening? Yes. It is called our intuition. It is always listening and able to guide, as long as we are able to tune in to the correct frequency at the right time.

Be aware Alexa and your intuition are always on.

………..

I love you