Amazon has patented a new version of its virtual assistant Alexa which can automatically detect when you're ill and offer to sell you medicine. The proposed feature would analyse speech and identify other signs of illness or emotion. One example given in the patent is a woman coughing and sniffling while she speaks to her Amazon Echo device. Alexa first suggests some chicken soup to cure her cold, and then offers to order cough drops on Amazon. If Amazon were to introduce this technology, it could compete with a service planned by the NHS.

Did you know that the earliest creative agency dates back to 1786, London? At that time, the only job of advertising agents was to act as a media buyer on behalf of their clients. Then by the 1870s, agencies became more involved in the creative process themselves and expanded their services to include in-house production – the model for marketing agencies today. Despite the years that have passed, the goal of all agencies from any era is still the same: getting their client's message across to the right audience. The goal of all agencies from any era is still the same: getting their client's message across to the right audience.

On this week's If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss the latest data spill in Silicon Valley. And it's time to talk gadgets again. This week Facebook announced its second foray into the hardware space with the Portal and Portal Plus--essentially a smart display for making video calls, equipped with an A.I. camera and Amazon Alexa. Meanwhile, Google launched a new smart display called the Google Home Hub, a new tablet that shares a name with the hosts' employer, and a new phone that's interesting for both its camera and the A.I. built in.

Yes, I've read the "Comma Sutra," but I only bend one way, so please don't ask. Quotation Mark My last girlfriend "dumped" me because she said I didn't "know" myself well enough to "get" what to do with myself, let "alone" a "girlfriend." Plus, she said it was "annoying" how I kept "coming up" with "sayings" that I thought were "deep." Other things to know about me: I don't "believe" in love. Also, "Love is a sentence.

Both Google and Facebook unveiled products for the growing "smart display" market this week. Facebook's Portal is meant to be the best way to make video calls; it also has Alexa built in so it can do just about everything an Echo does as well. Meanwhile, Google's Home Hub can quickly answer questions and pull up info from services like YouTube, Google Maps, Calendar, Search and Photos. It's also doubles as a command center for smart home devices and a pretty nice digital photo frame. Essentially, it extends what the Google Assistant can already do by visually offering more information than you can get with voice alone -- similar to what Amazon already does with the Echo Show.

This week, we learned that Chinese spies may have planted microchips in certain consumer electronics destined for the United States--including products from Apple and Amazon--in order to surveil device users. While your iPhone or Amazon Echo may or may not actually be compromised (both the U.S. government and the companies alleged to have been targeted have vehemently denied the story, which was first reported by Bloomberg), the possibility of such foreign intrusion into our internet of things devices would have massive implications for our national security and technology sectors. Josephine Wolff explains that though the story may not bear out, it still highlights China's power as one of the few manufacturers, testers, and packagers for many major tech firms--and how there might not be a way to truly secure this global supply chain. Elsewhere on Slate, we've been covering other stories about data security. Sharon Bradford Franklin wrote about a newly proposed law in Australia that could give U.S. law enforcement backdoor access to encrypted data and communications. Josephine Wolff argued that Google actually did a good job disclosing and handling a data vulnerability it found in Google Plus.

The company's new Pixel 3 flagship Android smartphone is first to introduce a new call screening feature that leverages the built-in Google Assistant. The screening service transcribes the caller's request in real-time, allowing you to decide whether or not to pick up, and gives you a way to respond. Despite the numerous leaks about Google's new hardware, Call Screen and the launch of Duplex for restaurant reservations were big surprises coming from Google's hardware event yesterday. Arguably, they're even more important developments than fancy new camera features – even if Group Selfie and Top Shot are cool additions to Google's new phone. Apple has nothing like this call screening feature, only third-party call blocking apps – which are also available on Android, of course.

In the coming battle of the talking video speakers, Google is selling YouTube, Amazon looks to Prime Video and with Facebook, it's about the social network. Google and Facebook have joined Amazon in offering the next wave of home speakers, Alexa with a twist, with a video display. Facebook came out on Monday with its video portal. On Tuesday, Google introduced Google Home Hub, an update to its popular Google Home speaker, a new device with a video screen that's all about Google. Amazon will be first to stores, with the revamped and larger Echo unit available Thursday, while Google's Home Hub, an extension of the Home speaker line, will be released on October 22nd.

Smart displays are the tech world's latest fetish. They're smart speakers with a voice assistant like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa--and a tablet-sized screen on the front to show the weather, album art, TV shows, video calls, and other (mostly) useful stuff. With Facebook and Google jumping into the fray with their own displays, it's a good time to step back and examine the LCD-filled terrain. Below are most of major smart displays on the market and what they're good for.

From iPhone's Siri to Amazon's Alexa, from Google Maps to Netflix recommendations, and from customer service chatbots to the airplanes' autopilot, artificial intelligence (AI) has seeped into our daily lives. It will soon impact every facet of our daily lives from driverless cars to smart homes. Where AI is making a real difference is in catching criminals. Globally, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 2-5% of global GDP, or $800 billion to $2 trillion, is laundered annually. Money laundering is closely tied to other serious offenses such as terror financing, drug trade, human trafficking and corruption.