Amazon Echoes are very useful devices designed to make our lives easier. We have no doubt that today, they perfectly comply with the three laws of robotics. However, there are people who have dedicated themselves to squeezing the assistant’s capabilities a little, and they are using it to make practical jokes that go viral on TikTok. One of the videos that has spread the most is that of the joke in which some ghosts communicate with a person through Alexa in the middle of the night. Did you know that it is very easy to program something like this?
Making pranks with Alexa is very easy
The tiktoker @ghosttoast_toons uploaded a video a few days ago to his profile on the social network in which Alexa talked to her owner in the middle of the night. First, the smart speaker would start making noise to wake up the victim. Once the subject was on his feet, the assistant began a conversation by simulating that a ghost he was possessing the speaker to communicate with our protagonist.
@ghosttoast_toons Ghost Speaks Through Alexa 😨 #alexa #alexaghost #ghosttalksthroughalexa #creepyalexa #ghost #realghost #poltergeist #spooky #scary #caughtontape #ghostcaughtontape #ghostfootage #paranormalactivity #paranormal #realparanormal #paranormalfootage
♬ Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) – howlingindicator
Although it is a worthy video to broadcast in Fourth Millennium, the truth is that designing such a joke is not at all difficult. It requires a bit of practice, knowing Alexa’s routines and above all, having a very bad milk.
How to design the ghost prank with Alexa?
The joke that we see in the video lasts several minutes, but it is only one pretty long alexa routine. These are the steps we would follow to make a similar routine to the one we see in the TikTok viral:
The process to be followed is as follows:
- Open the Alexa app on your mobile phone.
- go to Plus > routines, and create a new routine in the ‘+’ button from the upper right corner.
- Give the routine a name.
- In section ‘When‘, we will use a time to activate the whole process. In this case, we set an early morning time, such as 3:17 AM.
Once this first step is done, it’s time to build the routine on the option ‘Add Action‘. The basic commands used in the viral are the following:
- Alexa Says > Custom: allows you to create a custom phrase with the information that you want. In the case of the video, the phrase that is repeated the most is «My wife».
- Wait: Causes Alexa to pause between responses.
- digital home: Allows you to control home automation devices. With this command you can quickly turn lights on and off if you combine it with the ‘Wait’ action.
- Music and Podcast: perfect for playing paranormal sounds, gloomy music or whatever you can imagine to round out the joke.
Be creative, but don’t go overboard
With this on the table, here comes the creativity of each one. The prank can be further complicated by using Skills, playing a horror movie on TV, or even adding your own custom commands.
Of course, if you are going to make a joke of this type, try not to go overboard. Put some clue so that your victim can find out that it is a prank. In this way, you will prevent him from having a heart attack. Remember that in the interrogation room, the chief inspector is not going to buy your theory that Alexa is the material author of the crime.
