Not all voice assistants can handle the same requests. We put Siri, Alexa and Google to the test. As privacy concerns loom large over smart speakers, a new investigation has found that Google's smart speakers might infringe on individual privacy more than buyers realize. Even when Google Home smart speakers aren't activated, the speakers are eavesdropping closely, often to private, intimate conversations, a report by Dutch broadcaster VRT has uncovered. Recordings found by VRT contain startling content: Couples' quarrels that may have potentially resulted in domestic violence, explicit conversations in the bedroom, men searching for pornography, confidential business calls, and talks with children.

Today's social media platforms are ruled over by opaque algorithms that decide what we see, guiding us towards content they believe we have the greatest chance of engaging with and creating new content in response to. We have no right to see inside these algorithms or control them in any way. Their decisions are made with their profit-minded creators in mind, not our intellectual and emotional best interests. Could our personal digital assistants of the future wade through the vast social wasteland on our behalf, tracking down content and curating a specialized feed that represents what we want to see, not what social platforms want us to see and even shield us from hate? The algorithms that run today's social media platforms are designed to mindlessly drive us towards the highest-engagement content.

Thanks to the limitless possibilities that artificial intelligence (AI) has to offer, our lives have never been easier. From smartphones and personal assistants to home automation systems, AI is everywhere. The ability of machines to mimic human intelligence may seem frightening, but the truth is that AI is already transforming many industries. And it's inevitable that labor markets and traditional workplaces will become part of this transformation as well. Though this tech has been around for quite some time, recent advances in computing have started accelerating the growth of AI, and many companies are investing heavily in this technology.

If it seems like Amazon is listening in, it's because they are. Here's how to stop it. Every few months, I take a hard look at Amazon Echo and catch up on the latest skills. If you're not familiar with skills, these programs give Alexa new tricks. What's interesting is that individuals produce many Alexa skills, and Amazon shares skill revenues with developers.

Clearsurance, the insurance industry's first unbiased peer review marketplace for insurance consumers, today announced its Recommendation Engine, a new solution driven by consumer data to help consumers view personalized, conflict-free insurance recommendations for the first time. By filtering and sorting based on their unique risk profile, consumers shopping for homeowners, rental or auto insurance can now view the top insurance policies for them without having to worry about financial conflicts of interest or their data surreptitiously being sold to third parties. "Many insurance consumers are eligible for discounts as a result of an affinity to specific groups and unique personal attributes that qualify them to save money on their personal insurance policies," said Michael Crowe, CEO and founder at Clearsurance. "Clearsurance's recommendation engine enables the consumer to identify discount attributes and get recommendations from insurance companies that offer such discounts." In addition to providing an easy-to-use interface designed to simplify an ordinarily complex process, the recommendation engine addresses critical data privacy concerns.

In a world-first, Amazon has partnered with the UK's health service, the NHS. From this week, its voice-controlled device, Alexa, will give out health advice, and answer common questions such as'Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?' and'Alexa, what are the symptoms of chickenpox?' In response to health-related queries, Alexa will now search the NHS Choices website for health information (and there you were thinking Amazon was all about Prime Day deals). The aim is to ease pressure on the NHS and help those who can't easily access information on the internet – such as the elderly or blind people. Will this partnership with Amazon really end up easing pressure on the health service, or will it lead to data protection issues and misdiagnoses? As we've previously explored, the use of voice interfaces is one of the fastest growing web design trends in recent years, but so far the news has been met with concerns over the appropriateness of using Alexa to deliver this kind of important and sensitive information.

Until a decade or so ago, artificial intelligence was -- for most Americans -- something that existed only in the movies. Now, Alexa and Google Home have moved into numerous households and live only to please. According to many reports, 2019 will be the year of AI. A recent McKinsey Global survey found that 47 percent of companies have implemented at least one AI capability into their business processes, more than doubling the 20 percent that reported using AI the previous year. Artificial intelligence can be the difference maker in an entrepreneur's business, providing everything from customer support to automated supervision of assembly lines.

Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google gets lots of attention for its artificial intelligence (AI) pursuits, mainly because the company is so good at applying AI to a variety of businesses. Consider that Google's core advertising business uses AI to determine which ads to serve online users, and the company's AI assistant, Google Assistant, is one of the best voice-search services available. Or that Waymo, formerly Google's self-driving car project, has driven 11 billion autonomous miles on public roads and even has its own commercial autonomous-vehicle ride-hailing service. But aside from Google's impressive AI moves, plenty of other players are applying AI to key parts of their businesses, and should benefit from what is projected to be a $15.7 trillion market by 2030. The tech giant is one of the biggest cloud computing companies in the world right now, but it also has its sights set on AI.

Virtual agents: You might be familier with the word Siri, Cortana and Google. These are the intelligent virtual agents of IOS, Windows and Android respectively. Almost every phone or laptop user has known its significance and uses it on daily basis. They assist you to find useful informations when you ask them through your voice. For example, "Where's the nearest Mobile Store?" or "Call David".

Not all voice assistants can handle the same requests. We put Siri, Alexa and Google to the test. LONDON -- Alexa will see you now. Britain's health care service is teaming up with Amazon's digital voice assistant to help answer medical queries with advice from the service's official website. Critics, however, warn about risks to data privacy.