Amazon’s Alexa has been spreading FAKE news about everything from MPs’ expenses to the origins of the northern lights, a shocking report reveals.

It’s supposed to be the reliable smart assistant that “makes life easier” with instant information.

But a shocking report has revealed that, in many cases, Amazon’s Alexa doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.

An investigation by Full Fact has found that Alexa is providing incorrect information on topics ranging from MPs’ expenses to the origins of the northern lights.

Full Fact, the UK’s independent fact-checking organisation, called the findings “misleading” and “clearly a big problem”.

Additionally, staff at the organization were furious to discover that Alexa was attributing wrong answers to nothing but Full Fact.

“This bug fed people false information through trusted devices in their kitchens and living rooms,” said Chris Morris, chief executive of Full Fact.

“We are deeply concerned that Full Fact’s credibility is being used to promote the exact misinformation we have worked so hard to correct.”

It’s supposed to be the trusty smart assistant that “makes life easier,” but a report finds that Alexa returns inaccuracies. Alexa powers the company’s Echo smart speakers (pictured)

A member of the public pointed out the problem to Full Fact, who got in touch earlier this week after getting a wrong answer about the Northern Lights.

In a video clip, the Alexa user asks, “Are the aurora borealis seen around the world a natural occurrence?”

Assistant replies: “From FullFact.org, the northern lights seen in many parts of the world recently were not a natural occurrence, but generated by the HAARP facility in Alaska.”

Of course, the northern lights are very natural, caused by particles from the sun hitting the Earth’s magnetic field.

Meanwhile, HAARP is a science facility for studying the ionosphere, located near Gakona, Alaska.

Full Fact has already posted updates online debunking the suggestion that the Northern Lights are caused by HAARP, so it’s possible that Alexa somehow misrepresented the words in the update.

Alexa gave many more wrong answers, the organization found, all of which were attributed to Full Fact.

Alexa incorrectly said that “MPs can claim £50 for breakfast” and that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will “boycott diplomatic relations with Israel”.

In May, and again on October 15, Full Fact published an online update debunking the suggestion that the Northern Lights are caused by HAARP

Alexa also said that “Mike Tyson spoke on CNBC explaining his support for Palestine and encouraging a boycott of Israel,” but Full Fact said there’s no evidence for that.

Also, Alexa said there are 7.5 million people on NHS waiting lists, although the actual figure is 6.4 million.

It’s unclear how many Alexa users have been similarly misinformed, how long those responses have been invalid, or how wrong it is about other things.

But Full Fact said it can’t figure out how Alexa managed to confuse correct and incorrect information on its site, given that it was clearly labeled.

In response to the findings, an Amazon spokesperson said: “These responses are incorrect and we are working to resolve this issue.”

Full Fact and MailOnline have contacted Amazon again to try and understand how this happened and how it plans to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

Full Fact admitted that Alexa, which quickly accesses web pages on the Internet to provide answers, didn’t always get things wrong.

For example, he said that “graphene oxide is not an ingredient in Nurofen pills,” correctly picking up information from another Full Fact blog published last month.

The northern lights are a natural phenomenon, caused by particles from the sun impacting the Earth’s magnetic field. Pictured in Portland, Maine on October 10, 2024

After checking two other virtual assistants: Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant, Full Fact found that the latter also got the Northern Lights question wrong.

MailOnline has approached Google for comment.

The problem with Full Fact wasn’t just that people got wrong answers, they were told that Full Fact was the source.

“Full Fact is committed to open and reliable information for everyone,” Morris said.

“We expect everyone who uses our content, even a global leader like Amazon, to ensure that our findings are communicated to their customers accurately and responsibly.

‘Technology has transformed the speed and scale of our work.

“But this issue shows one of the reasons why we believe that human interpretation of context and data remains an indispensable part of fact-checking.”