Amazon’s voice-activated assistant Alexa has recently been criticized for providing incorrect answers to users on various topics, including MPs’ expenses, diplomatic relations, and even natural phenomena like the Northern Lights. To make matters worse, these erroneous responses were being attributed to Full Fact, a well-respected UK fact-checking organization. While Amazon has acknowledged the issue and claims it is working on a resolution, users were left questioning the reliability of their smart assistant.
The problem was first flagged when a user noticed an Alexa response that falsely attributed the Northern Lights to artificial interference from Alaska’s HAARP facility. When asked if the recent global sightings of the Northern Lights were natural, Alexa stated: “From fullfact.org—the Northern Lights seen in many parts of the world recently were not a natural occurrence, but generated by the HAARP facility in Alaska.” This claim is not true, as Full Fact’s fact-check on the subject had actually debunked this theory.
Similar inaccuracies were reported on other issues, with Alexa wrongly stating that UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had announced a boycott of diplomatic relations with Israel—a completely false assertion. The assistant also claimed that MPs were allowed to claim £50 for breakfast, which, again, is incorrect. Additionally, Alexa falsely attributed a claim to Full Fact about boxer Mike Tyson’s supposed support for Palestine, a statement for which there is no evidence.
Amazon has not provided a clear explanation for why these errors occurred, but it appears that Alexa may have confused the claims being fact-checked by Full Fact with the conclusions of those fact-checks. In essence, Alexa was reporting the initial false claims rather than Full Fact’s verified corrections.
In response to these errors, an Amazon spokesperson told Full Fact: “These answers are incorrect, and we are working to resolve this issue.” While the company seems to have fixed the problem—users have since been unable to replicate these incorrect responses—questions remain about the cause of the errors and how Amazon plans to prevent similar issues in the future.
For now, users are encouraged to verify information from trusted sources, especially when it comes to sensitive topics like politics and international relations. While Amazon’s Alexa is a powerful tool, this incident underscores the importance of fact-checking, even when using advanced AI systems.
