My AI assistant tried to order 87 pounds of cat food

So I was testing a new voice command model for my smart home last Tuesday, and I asked it to 'order cat food'. It heard 'order cat food for 87 pounds' and went ahead. I got a delivery confirmation for a pallet of kibble that barely fit in my garage. The whole thing cost me over $300 before I could cancel the rest. Has anyone else had a simple AI command go completely off the rails like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

dixon.rose20d ago

Oh my god that's actually hilarious but also a nightmare! What kind of voice system doesn't have a confirmation step for huge orders like that? I'm stuck on the fact it just charged your card and shipped a whole pallet without checking. Did the company give you a hard time about the return, or were they cool about it since their robot messed up?

the_jenny16d agoMost Upvoted

Remember reading about a guy who ordered a single light bulb through a smart speaker and got a whole case? The company made him send back the extra ones at his own cost. It seems like some systems are just set to auto ship whatever number the voice command picks up, even if it's crazy. They really need to add a simple "you ordered 50 of these, is that right?" check. Otherwise people end up with a garage full of stuff they never meant to buy.

thompson.xena20d agoTop Commenter

Right, no confirmation step for a whole pallet is wild. I feel for you, @dixon.rose. Hope they owned the mistake and took it all back without any fuss.