Alexa, was that you? Amazon working to fix Alexa's creepy random laughter

What could be the worst nightmare for a person who is already paranoid about the ever-growing prowess of digital assistants and AI? A creepy laughter from said assistants, uttered at random times for no obvious reason. Well, that’s what is happening with a number of Alexa-powered devices, with the digital assistant in some cases even becoming unresponsive, only to instill more fear into its supposed owners.

One of the first reports of the issue dates back to February 23, with a Twitter user having - somehow, with perfect timing - filmed Alexa, who “decided to laugh randomly”:

So Alexa decided to laugh randomly while I was in the kitchen. Freaked @SnootyJuicer and I out. I thought a kid was laughing behind me. pic.twitter.com/6dblzkiQHp
— CaptHandlebar (@CaptHandlebar) February 23, 2018

Others have since also experienced and reported Alexa's creepy behavior, sharing them through many similar tweets; some instances are outright chilling as well as hilarious.

so my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason. she didn’t even say anything, just laughed.

we unplugged her.
— taylor wade (@taylorkatelynne) March 5, 2018

Lying in bed about to fall asleep when Alexa on my Amazon Echo Dot lets out a very loud and creepy laugh... there’s a good chance I get murdered tonight.
— Gavin Hightower (@GavinHightower) February 26, 2018

The Verge reached out to Amazon for a statement, to which the company responded with: