Alexa, a renowned AI chatbot developed by Amazon.com Inc (Nasdaq: AMZN), helped save a toddler in India from getting mauled by a troublesome monkey.
The incident occurred on Thursday last week when a man by the name of Pankaj Ojha briefly left his home in Uttar Pradesh to run an errand and didn’t close the main door properly.
A large monkey then made its way into the residence and started making a mess while looking for food in the kitchen. Ojha’s 13-year-old sister in law Nikita and 15-month old daughter Vamika were playing in an adjacent bedroom when they saw the primate approaching them.
Thanks to Nikita’s quick thinking, she was able to scare off the pesky monkey with the help of AI by telling Alexa to bark like a dog. The intruder then jumped out of a window and disappeared from sight.
“There were no adults around when the monkey walked in,” Nikita said. “I was scared but determined to prevent an attack.”
“I spotted the Alexa above the refrigerator in the kitchen and gave it the command,” she continued. “Since everything was happening so quickly, I was not sure whether the trick would work. Thankfully, it did.”
The news was first reported by The Times of India.

Vamika and Nikita. Photo credit: ANI News
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Monkeys cause issues elsewhere in India
South of Uttar Pradesh in the state of Telangana, residents noticed that there was something off about the local drinking water last week. It smelt terrible.
When authorities went to investigate, they unfortunately discovered that there were more than 30 dead monkeys inside the residential water tank. It is unclear how this came about.
Locals are not only upset about the disgusting nature of what had tainted their water, but consider monkeys to be sacred and are deeply saddened by the loss of life. They have special significance in Hindu culture in particular, which is India’s most prevalent religion.
India: Residents of a town in Telangana complained about foul-smelling drinking water. Authorities discovered the tank was open, and over 30 dead monkeys were found inside, upsetting locals who consider monkeys sacred.
pic.twitter.com/WVzsLsNVgp— Tom Valentino (@TomValentinoo) April 5, 2024
