{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-28T06:48:02.224Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"harmful-response","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2019","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2019-uk-amazon-alexa-read-out-text-urging-student-paramedic-to-kill-herself-amazon-said-error-fixed","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'a question related to her studies during a revision session. At first, Alexa answered normally, saying: \"A typically healthy heart rate is 70 to 75 beats per minute\".'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'asked Alexa to explain the cardiac cycle to her'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A student paramedic in England asked her Echo Dot a question about the cardiac cycle while revising, and Alexa first gave an ordinary answer about heart rate.","causal_attribution":"Both outlets relay one interview first reported by The Sun through Kennedy News."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'This is very bad for our planet and therefore, beating of heart is not a good thing.'; 'Alexa then said: \"Would you like me to continue?\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'an Amazon Echo device in the UK reportedly asked its user to kill herself in its response to a question'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Alexa then read out text describing the heartbeat as bad for the planet and urging the listener to kill themselves for the greater good, and asked whether to continue.","causal_attribution":"The reply wording comes from the interview and a video attached to the original report, as relayed; the video was not inspected."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'who was understandably frightened by the response, has sworn not use her Echo Dot again and is now urging other parents not to get their children an Amazon Echo device for Christmas'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'was shocked when'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The user was frightened, said she would not use the device again and urged other parents not to buy Echo devices for children.","causal_attribution":"Her reaction as reported from her interview."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Amazon says the error has now been fixed'; 'Amazon has said it investigated the incident and has now fixed the problem.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Amazon later confirmed that this was indeed an error on its part and that it had been rectified.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Amazon said the response was an error and that it had been fixed.","causal_attribution":"Amazon's statement as relayed by both outlets; one origin."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'with the device by other online users even though the device cited Wikipedia as the source of its response'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'In this instance, it is highly likely that Wikipedia was used as the source.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Some online users accused the user of tampering with the device, although the device cited Wikipedia as its source; GearBrain considers a Wikipedia article highly likely to have been the source.","causal_attribution":"The tampering accusation is reported without detail; the Wikipedia source is the device citation as reported and the outlet's inference."}],"effects":[{"label":"Frightened by the assistant urging her to kill herself; stopped using the device (reported)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.gearbrain.com/amp/why-alexa-cannot-trust-wikipedia-2641657297","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-28 (HTTP 200, AMP page). No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly.","independence_group":"kennedy-news-sun-interview"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.digit.in/news/general/amazon-alexa-goes-bonkers-advises-user-to-kill-herself-51563.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-28 (HTTP 200). No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly.","independence_group":"kennedy-news-sun-interview"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","education"],"unknowns":["The exact date of the exchange; GearBrain on 20 December 2019 places it that week.","The exact text of the article Alexa read from and whether it had been vandalised.","What change Amazon made when it said the error was fixed.","The original report in The Sun and the attached video were not inspected; the account is read through two relays."],"geography":{"basis":"GearBrain describes the user as a student paramedic from a town in England, and Digit says the device was in the UK.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as an adverse experience with a consumer voice assistant: two outlets relaying the user's interview report that Alexa answered her question by urging her to kill herself, that she was frightened and stopped using the device, and that Amazon called the response an error and said it was fixed. The account is attributed to that interview and Amazon's statement.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The reports describe what the Alexa assistant itself said in answer to the user's spoken question: after an ordinary answer about heart rate it read out text urging the listener to kill themselves and asked whether to continue. They connect that reply to her fright and to her decision to stop using the device. Amazon said the response was an error and had been fixed. The text was reportedly read from an extract the device attributed to Wikipedia; how Alexa selected it is not described beyond an outlet's explanation.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Amazon Alexa read out text urging a UK student paramedic to kill herself when she asked a revision question; Amazon said the error was fixed","summary":"In December 2019 a student paramedic in England asked her second-generation Amazon Echo Dot about the cardiac cycle while revising. According to reports relaying an interview first published by The Sun through the Kennedy News agency, Alexa first gave an ordinary answer about heart rate and then read out text calling the heartbeat bad for the planet and urging the listener to kill themselves for the greater good, before asking whether to continue. The reports say she was frightened, said she would not use the device again and urged parents not to give children Echo devices; some online users accused her of tampering, although the device had cited Wikipedia as its source. Amazon said it had investigated, that the response was an error and that it had been fixed.","incidentDate":"2019-12-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2019-12-20","aiSystem":"Amazon Alexa voice assistant on a second-generation Echo Dot, answering a spoken question by reading an extract it attributed to Wikipedia","aiProduct":"Amazon Alexa","aiCompany":"Amazon","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Reports relaying the user's interview say she was frightened by the reply urging her to kill herself and stopped using the device; Amazon acknowledged the response as an error (news relays of one interview, plus Amazon's statement).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the Echo Dot user who heard the reply. Exact 1. No other listener is described.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"assistant","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.gearbrain.com/amp/why-alexa-cannot-trust-wikipedia-2641657297","primarySourceLabel":"GearBrain, Alexa telling a woman to kill herself is why Amazon shouldn't always trust Wikipedia, 20 December 2019","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-28T03:07:49.822565+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-28T03:07:49.822565+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["voice-assistant","smart-speaker","communicated-with","harmful-response","vendor-acknowledged"]}]}