By Theodore Bunker From Newsmax

Amazon has issued an update for devices that use its Alexa voice assistant technology after one of their Echo devices suggested a child perform the “penny challenge,” involving placing a coin on an exposed plug.

Earlier this week, a Twitter user posted that her Amazon Echo told her daughter to place a coin on a plug that is half-connected to an electrical outlet. The child did not attempt to perform the “penny challenge,” and Amazon apologized for the incident.

Kristin Livdahl tweeted a screenshot of her Amazon Echo activity showing the suggestion: “Here’s something I found on the web. According to ourcommunitynow.com: The challenge is simple: plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs.”

“Customer trust is at the center of everything we do and Alexa is designed to provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to customers,” an Amazon spokesperson said on Thursday, according to The Hill.

“As soon as we became aware of this error, we quickly fixed it, and will continue to advance our systems to help prevent similar responses in the future,” they said.

Canadian fire prevention division chief Matt Covey warned against attempting the “challenge” in an interview with Global News last year, when the “penny challenge” trend first appeared, saying that “You could set yourself on fire, you could set the building on fire and you can also damage things within the building. You’re damaging the electrical outlet. You could be damaging things in behind the wall where there’s wires or the electrical panel … so you could cause a whole bunch of hazards, some of them right away.”Related Stories:

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