Dear Alexa + Archives

Concept

Alexa is a personal voice assistant that answers to its name + commands/ simple questions. Alexa was recently developed and its short amount of time as an in-home product it has interacted with its users in a far broader way that other personal voice assistants. Because of its position in the home, anyone can speak to it as opposed to handheld devices that are usually only used by the singular owner. Alexa was originally designed to be used for simple news headline readings, weather reports and an easy “reorder” function for items sold on Amazon such as toilet paper, body lotion, etc. However, with the “family” use mentality of Alexa, children have begun to interact with her in a way many didn’t expect.

Feature 1

Parents have reported that Alexa is teaching their children to “be rude” because she will answer regardless of pleasantries being used to ask questions. Other parents have full embraced the technology to “put their children to sleep.” More recently, there have been reports of children speaking to Alexa as if she is a confidant and the subject of the conversations read more as a journal entry. Essentially, Alexa is having a much more of a role in raising and conditioning children than its original creators intended.

Feature 2

Sherry Turkle, a psychologist at MIT who has been studying technology and children for several decades, worries that they’ll be “too willing to settle for the reduced emotional sustenance to be had from these non-animal half-agents.”

The final product being a mock diary that looks and reads as an authentic children’s journal but is really a commentary on how technology is raising and effecting children informing their connection to the world in place of and in spite of their parents.

Feature 3

Written on the left hand page of each question entry is a real questions asked by a real child. I obtained submissions from family and friends of their children's historical questions and the parents' responses. On the right hand page of each question entry is the same question asked by said child, but answered by Alexa. 

By changing the context of the original submission and playing with the source of info, it provides somewhat of an identity correction or wake up call.