Why We May Soon Be Living in Alexa's World

My wife and I were just settling into bed one night when Alexa, the other woman in my life, decided to make herself heard. Without being summoned, the Amazon Echo Dot at my bedside -- one of the half-dozen devices that Alexa inhabits in our house -- lit up its spectral blue ring, as if it had heard its triggering wake word, "Alexa." But instead of offering help with some household chore, the voice assistant began to wail, like a child screaming in a horror-movie dream. "Huh," I said to my wife when it was over. She said something less kind. But here's what's really strange: By the next morning, we had forgotten all about it.