Alexa Suggests Kids Electrocute Themselves, You Know, For a Challenge

If you’re a regular reader of The Mary Sue, then you know by now that we as journalists are committed to bringing you coverage of the inevitable robot uprising. Now, the robot army has recruited a dastardly new weapon, one that can be found in most homes. I’m talking, of course, about that digital know-it-all, the Alexa voice assistant. The Amazon device went viral after a 10-year-old girl asked Alexa for a challenge.

Alexa responded by telling the girl to electrocute herself and burn the house down. Well, technically it said “Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs,” but that’s not better!

Damn Alexa, don’t tell kids to stick pennies in outlets! Ask them to do jumping jacks or, I don’t know, list the state capitols in alphabetical order. Why did you go straight to starting electrical fires? I mean, I guess starting an electrical fire is “challenging,” but nobody asked for that.

The suggestion came from an article on ourcommnity.com, a local news website, about something called “the outlet challenge,” which was apparently a TikTok trend in 2020. And I thought those folks spreading spaghetti on their kitchen counters was dangerous. But seriously, keep that shit in a bowl. Your counters are filthy.

Amazon quickly fixed the glitch, saying “[We] will continue to advance our systems to prevent similar responses in the future.” Yeah, SEE THAT YOU DO! Luckily, the kid in question was too smart and refused to willingly shock herself. But what about all the kids who don’t know any better? Or the adults that are just plain dumb? If 2020 and 2021 have taught us anything, it’s that we’re far less intelligent as a species than we could ever imagine.

Naturally, Twitter took to this absurd story and made with the memes and jokes:

Look Alexa, I get it. My two-year-old has been home all day for winter break and we are running out of things to do. Kids are bored, and it’s freezing or raining or snowing outside. But sticking metal into electrical outlets is never the answer. Not when you can entertain everyone at home with a safe and family-friendly board game, like this one:

(via HuffPost, image: Sony Pictures Entertainment)

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Chelsea Steiner

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.

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