Amazon Alexa offering NHS health advice

People will be able to get expert health advice using Amazon Alexa devices under a partnership with the NHS, the government has announced. From this week, the voice-assisted technology is automatically searching the NHS Choices website when UK users ask for health-related advice. The Department of Health in England said it could provide valuable support and even reduce demand on the NHS. The partnership was first announced last year and now talks are under way with other companies, including Microsoft, to set up similar arrangements. Under the partnership, Amazon's algorithm uses information from the NHS website to provide answers to questions such as, "How do I treat a migraine?" and, "What are the symptoms of chickenpox?". Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was right for the NHS to "Embrace" technology in this way, predicting it would reduce pressure on "Our hard-working GPs and pharmacists".

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