Alexa, can you have a conversation with us? (At least a short one?)

Digital assistants like Amazon's Echo can listen to you. And they can talk back. But that doesn't mean they can carry on a good conversation. As the devices that run these assistants become more commonplace -- 39 million Americans now own one, according to a recent study -- Amazon and competitors like Apple and Google foresee a day when you can chat with their assistants as you would with a friend. After consulting with the companies involved and a few artificial intelligence experts we created tests that show what they can and can't handle.