I Am Alexa Alliance

We’re taking back our name

Amazon's choice of "Alexa" has resulted in unethical product outcomes.

We’re asking Amazon to rebrand their virtual assistant to a non-human name, and eliminate the “Alexa” wake word.

 

People are losing normal use of their own name: Alexas, and those with similar names, are unable to use their name around the devices without causing disruptions and inconvenience to users. As the devices become ever more prolific, this problem only grows worse.

Amazon’s product name has changed how users interact with people named Alexa: Unlike other products out there with human names, this one requires users to vocalize commands and requests at “Alexa” repeatedly throughout the day, setting a pattern for the way they now interact with people who have that name.

Losing use of your name and having people speak to you like a machine is dehumanizing: These outcomes were completely unnecessary; the technology will work just as well when summoned by a neutral, non-name wake word.

Outcomes of Amazon's choice to use the name Alexa:

 
Tweet: "I have wondered: When they settled on "Alexa" for the smart speaker name, what were the other finalists? Like, what were we all almost shouting through the air?"

We shouldn’t all be shouting anybody’s name through the air. Using a real name has unethical outcomes.

What’s in a Wake Word?

One easy way to solve the Alexa problem

“What can I do to help?”

Sign the Petition

Please join us in asking Amazon to rebrand by signing our petition at Change.org.

About I Am Alexa! Alliance

We are a non-profit organization made up of people named Alexa (and similar names), their parents, friends, and allies, who merged to start the I Am Alexa Alliance to further advocate for change and for best practices in Voice Tech.

Our Mission: We want to inspire humanity to put humans first. Our alliance is dedicated to reclaiming human names that are utilized for AI.

Our Vision: We believe in a world where respect for life experience of all people isn't ruled by an unchecked passion for progress.

  • Tweet: "I hope Amazon thought long and hard about what human name they really wanted to kill before they named their assistant."
  • Tweet: "If you think times are hard just remember that some people are named Alexa"
  • Tweet: "I wanna know who at amazon was like 'i know what we should do, name our ai using a really common human name so we can ruin the lives of a generation of women named alexa'"
 

First person accounts from people named Alexa, their parents, and their friends. Have a story to contribute? ►