Amazon's Alexa will be used as a 'virtual medical coach'

Devices like Amazon's Alexa (pictured), Microsoft's Cortana and Apple's Siri are becoming crucial health tools Smart speakers are set to be used as'virtual medical coaches' to monitor patients in their own homes, a major report says. Devices like Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana and Apple's Siri are becoming crucial health tools, according to an official report on the'digital future' of the NHS. The 100-page document, written by US geneticist Eric Topol, said robots and artificial intelligence will make medical diagnoses more accurate and unburden doctors to give them more time with patients. And it said within 20 years virtual medical coaches, operating through voice recognition speakers in people's homes, would help manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, depression and high blood pressure. These programmes will use artificial intelligence and'deep learning' about someone's illness and normal behaviour to'pre-empt hospitalisation' by spotting when something is wrong.