Even virtual personal assistants backed by artificial intelligence love a scrappy underdog.
Amazon’s Alexa can answer a lot of different questions with its voice interaction feature, and the virtual assistant has been known to deliver a cheekyresponse or two. But, when it comes to this weekend’s Super Bowl LII matchup, Alexa isn’t messing around. Alexa is pulling for the Philadelphia Eagles all the way.
San Francisco-based BuzzFeed tech reporter Alex Kantrowitz posted a video on Twitter this week in which he asked Alexa which team will win this year’s Super Bowl—the Eagles or the returning champion New England Patriots? In response, the virtual assistant first coughs and makes a show of struggling to spit out the fact that the Patriots are, in fact, statistically favored to win the big game by oddsmakers.
In case you were wondering who Jeff Bezos is pulling for in the Super Bowl…. Pic.twitter.com/ElVcLG1bBu
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) January 31, 2018
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“That was tough to get out,” Alexa jokes after declaring the Patriots the odds-on Super Bowl favorites. “But, I’m flying with the Eagles on this one, because of their relentless defense and the momentum they’ve been riding off their underdog status,” Alexa says, before adding the cheer, “E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!”
(Amazon may feel comfortable picking sides in this year’s matchup, considering that a majority of America is reportedly rooting for Philadelphia over New England.)
In addition to declaring a preferred winner for Sunday’s big game, Alexa will also be featured in Amazon’s Super Bowl commercial this year. In the ad, which also features a cameo from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Alexa has “lost her voice,” setting up a montage of celebrities such as chef Gordon Ramsay and rapper Cardi B stepping in to answer users’ questions.