Amazon working on technology allowing Alexa to speak in a dead relative's voice

(Image credit: Olly Curtis/Future via Getty Images)

published 23 June 2022

The new season of Black Mirror has arrived sooner than expected thanks to Amazon.

The company has announced it's developing a feature for Alexa that would allow the virtual assistant to speak in the voice of a dead relative. The technology was shown off during a keynote presentation.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

But the feature — which calls to mind the plot of an actual episode of the dystopian sci-fi series Black Mirror — was seen by some as "incredibly creepy," as writer Julian Sanchez tweeted, arguing "absolutely nobody will do it." Cybersecurity expert Rachel Tobac also raised concerns to The Washington Post about criminals using voice samples "to impersonate other individuals," leading to "fraud, data loss, account takeover and more."

Explore More

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox