The first time Alex Acero saw Her, he watched it like a normal person. The second time, he didn't watch the movie at all. Acero, the Apple executive in charge of the tech behind Siri, sat there with his eyes closed, listening to how Scarlett Johansson voiced her artificially intelligent character Samantha. He paid attention to how she talked to Theodore Twombly, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and how Twombly talked back. Acero was trying to discern what about Samantha could make someone fall in love without ever seeing her.

If you've spent any time barking at your virtual assistant, you've no doubt had the conversation run aground a few times. "No, Siri, I said'Play Prince Purple Rain,' not'Belay price Urkle T-pain.'" But while Siri, Alexa, and Google may sometimes have a tough time understanding what you're asking even if you speak in a plain American accent, just imagine what it's like for somebody speaking English with a foreign accent. We put the three top assistants to the test. We asked friends of ours from Italy, Ireland, Scotland, England, Japan, Germany, and Australia to ask an iPhone with Siri, a Google Home, and an Amazon Echo various questions.