When Your Name Becomes a Punchline
I still remember the first time someone made a joke about my name. I was standing in line at Starbucks when the barista paused, looked at me, and said, “Alexa, what’s the weather?” We shared an awkward laugh, and that moment was almost eight years ago. Since then, nearly every day, someone feels compelled to make the same joke. Over time, it becomes hard not to feel irritated.
Friends often tell me to lighten up. They say it is not a big deal and ask why I do not just laugh along. For a long time, I struggled to understand why it bothered me so deeply and why I felt like I was taking something away from people by not indulging their humor.
Working Alongside My Own Name
Earlier in my career, I worked on an Alexa app at CNN. Engineers tested the product constantly, saying things like “Alexa, do this” or “Alexa, ask CNN to do that.” It was my name, yet somehow not my name. Someone once asked how I managed to work in that environment. My answer was simple. I learned to mentally separate myself from it.
There was something surreal but also exciting about the experience. I helped build a giant Amazon Alexa installation, a strange and fascinating blend of human Alexa and technology Alexa. It was an early glimpse into how tightly intertwined people and products were becoming.
When It Started to Feel Personal
Things shifted the first time I heard a friend yell at their Alexa device. At the time, we did not yet know you could change the wake word. Hearing someone bark commands using my name was unsettling in a way I had not anticipated. It made me realize how quickly people were being conditioned to treat a human name as something mechanical and disposable.
Over time, I noticed this pattern more and more. When I get close to people now, I ask them to change their device’s name. It is not a joke request. Hearing my name used that way feels frustrating and deeply dehumanizing.
Identity, Ownership, and Technology
If I am being honest, it is also just annoying. A part of my identity that once felt personal and unique now feels like it has been flattened into a cultural shortcut. I know I cannot change that reality, but I can choose how I respond to it.
What matters most to me is acknowledging that technology shapes how we treat one another. Names carry weight. Language matters. Design decisions ripple outward in ways that are not always obvious at launch.
Choosing Humanity on Purpose
I am one of those people who still says please and thank you to ChatGPT. Not because I think it needs politeness, but because I do. I want to preserve habits of kindness and respect, even when interacting with something inhuman. It is a small choice, but it reflects a larger value.
Why This Story Belongs Here
If this piece makes you pause for even a moment and consider the human impact of the products we build and use, then it has done its job. I often wonder whether the people who named these technologies considered what it would mean to share your identity with a machine.
I am Alexa. I am human. And I believe technology should never make us forget that.