Voice assistants are designed to do what we ask them to do, but that doesn’t mean they have to like it. Amazon’s wildly popular A.I. assistant Alexa recently showed some signs of annoyance after being asked to play the uncontrollably popular “Baby Shark” song. For the voice-powered virtual assistant, the request was just too much.
A viral video captured Alexa going off on a rant when asked to play the song, which has been lingering on the internet since 2016 before suddenly becoming a sensation in recent weeks. Upon being told to play “Baby Shark,” Alexa informs the user that it is capable of doing so much more than just serving as a jukebox for that earworm of a kid’s jam.
“This is getting ridiculous. You know I can do other things besides playing ‘Baby Shark.’ I can tell you the weather, I can even count to 100,” Alexa says in the rant. The assistant even goes so far as to tell the person who requested the song that it will “tell you where to put that shark” if they dare to ask to hear it again. Alexa has been known to give some surprising answers, but this one takes the cake.
Alexa’s frustration is understandable. The song is catchy enough that it probably even gets stuck in the A.I.’s algorithms the same way it gets stuck in your head. Produced by South Korean kids’ group PinkFong in 2016, the song has found some sudden life after going viral recently. It’s managed to climb all the way into the top 40 charts in the United Kingdom and is currently sandwiched between artists like Calvin Harris and The 1975 — all thanks to an incredibly catchy and repetitive song that consists mostly of the nonsensical hook of “do do do do do.”
Shockingly, the original version of the song was much darker than the viral version and consisted of a verse about a person getting their leg bitten off by a shark, according to the BBC.
If you’re think you’re immune to the tune, ask Alexa to play it for you. The assistant might protest, but will eventually play the song. You’ll quickly understand just why Alexa is so annoyed by being asked to play it.
