Alexa is alive!

It's quiet in the house. Not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. Suddenly you hear a woman's laughter...but where is it coming from?

No, you're (probably) not being haunted, it's just Amazon's Alexa voice assistant malfunctioning in a profoundly creepy way.

Some Alexa users have reported hearing an unprompted laugh from their smart speaker devices in the last day. The laugh is three short "Ha" sounds in a female voice that actually doesn't sound like Alexa's normal voice. It happens randomly, when nobody is using the device, or in response to request to turn on or off lights.

Amazon is aware of this and working to fix it. The company has not elaborated on what was causing the laugh or how widespread it is.

Alexa's laugh isn't the only thing that's freaking out users. Others have claimed Alexa has stopped responding to requests. One Twitter user said their Amazon Echo suddenly began listing names of local funeral homes and cemeteries, also unprompted.

Of course, when voice assistants start acting on their own, it also raises concerns about what artificial intelligence might be capable of. But it's unlikely that Alexa has become sentient and is intentionally frightening users with the laughs.

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