Smart speakers will be joined to the health service website to create a virtual doctor

People could soon be diagnosed by Dr Alexa in their own living room as the NHS announces plans to join up with Amazon to create a virtual doctor. New Government Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, will today announce plans to connect Amazon Echo smart speakers to the NHS website. This will give the hi-tech gadgets – which answer questions out loud when spoken to – access to accurate medical information checked by NHS experts. The voice-activated technology speaks to owners as an artificial intelligence character named Alexa, and could soon have a wealth of health knowledge to hand. Government minister Hancock will say in a speech today the partnership will give people peace of mind that the health advice they receive is from a reliable source.