Good birdie!!
Buddy the parrot showed he’s a pretty clever boy by mimicking his owner to go shopping via Amazon’s Alexa voice-controlled system.
Shocked owner Corienne Pretorius could not work out how she had requested a $16 set of gift boxes until she realised her African grey had bought them.
The five-year-old pet had impersonated one of her conversations and placed the order while she was out.Buddy activated her $250 Amazon Echo smart speaker, which connects to the internet shopping giant’s artificial intelligence hub.
Users can bark commands at it to control heating, order takeaway or access a host of other services.
It responds to the name “Alexa” and hilarious footage filmed by South Africa-born Corienne shows Buddy squawking “Alexa!” in her voice.
The bird adds in the film: “Oh, um, hang on! Alexa!” As Buddy shrieks, the top of the device on a shelf next to his cage can be seen lighting up blue — showing just how the shopping order was made.
Corienne, 39, of Greenwich, South East London, had ruled out civil engineer husband Jan, 45, and son Jaden, eight, before she worked out who was responsible for the order. She said: “I couldn’t believe it when I realised that Buddy had made an Amazon order.
“We’ve had the device for four months and I use it to play music or make ‘to do’ lists but I’ve never ordered anything online.
HA!! I have a friend who has an African grey, and one of those units. She has been forewarned!
You mean he didn’t order Lobster bisque takeout with extra crackers?
I guess it’s a good thing that cats and dogs can’t talk like parrots do. Can you imagine the stuff they would get?