Smart home - or just a really dumb idea?

You know the robots have taken over when they start not just bossing you around, but being rude, too. All I had done was ask my Amazon Echo – a speaker on the kitchen worktop that connects to a supposedly intelligent'virtual assistant' called Alexa – to turn on the lights. I was greeted with: 'I hate to state the obvious, but the light is already on. I guess my job is done.' The idea is that every major appliance in the house can be connected to the internet and, in turn to your smartphone.