Amazon's Bee Frontier made me question my own memory

An AI device that records everything

Victoria Song tested Amazon's Bee Frontier, an always-recording wearable that transcribes conversations and uses AI to summarize them, suggest to-dos, and identify areas for improvement.

Nineteen months of testing

Over nineteen months, Bee improved at distinguishing Song's speech from TV dialogue, integrated with her calendar and photos, and suggested Amazon purchases based on her conversations.

Why Song wanted this device

Song grew up with a father who might have been a spy and an immigrant family that never agreed on events. She wished for a device like Bee to verify her own memories.

The AI gets things wrong

Bee concluded Song argues with a coworker's spouse frequently, though she has never met them. It thought she believed a family member had undiagnosed bipolar disorder when no one said that.

Confusion about her cats

Bee could not handle that Song calls her two cats Petey and Pablo various nicknames.It estimated she has about six additional cats named Mr.Handsome, Mr.

A traumatic memory summarized

During a therapy session about childhood domestic violence, Song forgot to turn Bee off. The device generated a stark summary titled Reclaiming Reality from Manipulative Power that felt awful to review.

The AI misread her emotional state

Song remembered the session as cathartic, with moments of laughter and joking. Bee characterized her as deeply unsettled, ranting and raving, and grieving, when she left feeling light.

Recording at the doctor's office

Song forgot to turn Bee off during her annual physical. It recorded that her doctor prescribed Claritin for allergies and that she and the nurse discussed her dead dog Daisy.

Different summaries, different truths

Depending on which Bee AI template Song used, the summary of her medical visit changed. The default template included tonal analysis; the medical template stripped away ruminations and felt more factual.

Judged for her hobbies

During setup, Song described enjoying reading, calligraphy, cross-stitch, running, fountain pens, and ink swatching. Bee's Grow feature concluded she dabbles without commitment and should pick one hobby.

The numbers Bee got wrong

Song had finished thirty-nine books in twenty twenty-six so far and completed ten cross-stitch projects that year. She had been practicing calligraphy and journaling for seventeen years.

Bee misread her politics

After watching The Daily Show with her spouse, Song joked she was tired of US political shenanigans. Bee suggested she identify one concrete political action, ignoring her actual experience canvassing and as a union organizer.

Summaries that are mostly wrong

Song found Bee's summaries maybe seventy-five percent right, fifteen percent taken out of context, and ten percent out-of-pocket wrong. Things were presented as fact regardless of AI disclaimers.

What her therapist said

Song's therapist said a device like Bee likely supersedes a person's ability to trust their own instincts. AI can generate insights that are not emotionally attuned and exacerbate anxiety and perfectionism.

“a device like this likely supersedes a person's ability to trust their own instincts about what they need to do”

The therapist's recommendation

In her third therapy session wearing Bee, Song asked her therapist to weigh in. They joked that Song should probably throw the device out the window.

What Bee missed

Bee did not include the therapist's thoughts on how poorly designed the device is for anxious people in its suggested to-do list. Instead, it recommended Song buy nail glue with a link to Amazon.