[akersten]

If this answer from a search engine was actually persuasive enough to their impressionable child that it posed a real risk to them, then it is absolutely the parent's fault for exposing said child to the literal internet before they are ready and able to determine what is good and what is not.

"That cup shouldn't have let my kid drink the bleach" is not a convincing argument that the cupmaker is at fault for leaving your cleaning equipment in an accessible location. It's the internet, it's dangerous, teach your kids about it before it teaches them.

I am 0% concerned about hypothetical effects of search results and 100% concerned about things that are actually harming our children, like the LAPD[0].

[0]: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/28/us/lapd-teen-killed-valen...

[notahacker]

Is this "the cup shouldn't let my kid drink the bleach?" or "interfaces engineered to be responsive to children's voices and marketed as being an authoritative source for facts probably shouldn't respond to requests for drinks recipes by parsing random websites with an algorithm so shonky it can't distinguish health warnings from recommendations?".

It's not like bleach manufacturers advise people to leave it around their household for easy access, or make special kids' editions which share many features with the adult solution including a cap designed to ensure it fits as easily in kids' hands as adults.

Yes, parents have some responsibility for actual parenting, but I don't think you can argue that an OEM going out of their way to ensure kids can use their products is entirely off the hook.

[omnicognate]

So how do you propose parents prevent their children from using Alexa other than simply not having it?

Not having it is my solution, and I put a bunch of (specialised, technical) work into safely introducing my kids to the internet [1], but if that's the only safe solution Alexa should have a "not safe if you have kids" warning.

But of course it's not the only solution. Amazon just need to make sure their device doesn't tell kids to stick things in power sockets, and they don't dispute this.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29177716