Go Ask Alexa

My wife and I hosted our grandkids for a couple of days this week. We love having them over and had a great time. One day I found myself in the kitchen working on cleaning things up and could hear my soon-to-be 7-year-old grandson carrying on a delightful conversation with my Amazon Echo Show. While I generally ask the device a single question at a time, Alexa would respond only to have my grandson ask another question.

This opened my eyes to the beauty of artificial intelligence (AI) and how to keep from getting frustrated at the millions of questions young kids seem to always ask. You know the kids. The ones always asking why? While I don't mind playing that game for a bit, the kids always win with more questions than I feel like answering. With Alexa, you can have the kid ask away and the device never gets tired nor bored.

I also learned how to answer some questions based on Alexa's response. My grandson would ask two or three questions without waiting for a response. In those cases, the device would often respond with, "I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that question." As responsible adults it is difficult to admit ignorance but talking with an overly inquisitive kid is the perfect time to practice that response.

The day after I listened to my grandson having his lengthy conversation with Alexa, my wife and I took the grandkids hiking up at Silver Lake near Brighton Ski Area. The kids loved it and kept running off ahead. I didn't want them to get too far away and so I called them back. I told them that they should remain close as there could be bears in the area. Without blinking, my grandson challenged that statement by asking, "Aren't bears nocturnal?" Perhaps the kid might be learning too much.