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In 2020, 126 million speakers were sold in the world.
It is expected that by 2024 there will be a worldwide use of 8.4 billion attendees.
The first virtual assistant by voice and with its own device was born in 2014 by Amazon.
People in the world are increasingly focused on the digitization of things, that is why some technological products, social networks or related to this sector are becoming more and more famous. One of these products that has become a vital device for many is the well-known Amazon Alexa, but this voice assistant has brought various inconveniences to women, especially those that bear her name, as is the case of a girl who he changed it because of the bullying he received.
Virtual assistants took hold in 2020 with the arrival of Covid-19 and, before entering the world of said technology, it is worth mentioning that it is a digital assistant. This refers to software or a device that allows people to interact with it, using voice commands to help with various tasks.
Currently, the rapid penetration of this type of device and software in the technology market is very striking, since, according to a report by BusinessWireby 2024 it is expected to register a use in the world of 8 thousand 400 million assistants.
In this sense, the classification of the Voicebot.ai firm highlights that devices of this style had a greater impact in 2020, especially with Alexa, which belongs to Amazon, with 110.2 million, and Google Assistant, with 97.3 millions.
6-year-old girl named “Alexa”, changes her name because of Amazon
By sheer coincidence, new parents named their newborn girl Alexa just as Amazon’s Alexa devices were entering the tech market. But now, a name that seemed popular around the world causes problems for a girl who is now six years old.
That is the story of a girl from Goettingen, Germany, who suffered in kindergarten while other children made cruel jokes at her expense, as the popularity of Amazon voice devices grew.
In the face of constant bullying for little Alexa, her parents finally petitioned Goettingen city officials to officially change her name via writing survey. But the couple’s first attempt was rejected, so they took the case to the City Administrative Court.
Making their case in court, they said how would other children give their daughter ‘Alexa’ orders on the playground. They also recalled how a man, who was a complete stranger, after hearing his daughter’s name, cruelly taunted, “Alexa, dance for me!”
In that sense, court officials agreed that the girl had been “emotionally burdened” by her name and gave her parents permission to choose a new one.
“The name is not only apt to form a play on words, but invites the issuing of insulting and degrading orders,” the court concluded.
To date, local media have not reported what Alexa’s new name will be. According to recorded data, there are some 4,000 people named Alexa under the age of 25 in the UK alone, many of whom report experiencing teasing thanks to their digital namesake.
It is not the first time that a case like this has attracted the attention of the media, since in 2021, according to the Daily Mail, a group of parents asked Amazon to change the name of their personal assistant, Alexa, because the girls who bear that name are teased and harassed by other schoolchildren.
As well, the grant by the assistant of a name shared by real people has given rise to movements such as ‘Alexa is human’, which is pressuring Amazon to reconsider the choice.
At the time, Amazon said it was “saddened” and “condemned” the harassment, adding that its devices can be programmed to respond to different names.
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