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Amazon Alexa to answer questions on health
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)Alexa - Level 0
We can now ask Amazon's Alexa about our health. Alexa is a virtual assistant. It listens to and answers questions. It can talk to people and tell them the latest news. Now it can give health advice. Amazon worked with the UK's health service to use its health database. Alexa will give answers from the advice of doctors.
The UK said it is great we can get advice from Alexa at home. This will really help busy doctors. The UK wants patients to have more control of their health. Not everyone likes this. Some people say we should not ask Alexa for health advice. We should see a doctor if we are sick. Other people are worried about hacking and privacy.
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Alexa - Level 1
Technology is helping us more with healthcare. We can now ask the digital device Alexa about our health. Alexa is a virtual assistant from Amazon. It listens to and answers questions. It can talk to people, make to-do lists, play music, and tell us the latest news. Now it can give health advice. Amazon teamed up with the UK's National Health Service (NHS). Alexa will search the NHS website for information and give answers that are agreed on by doctors.
The UK said it was great that people can get good advice from their home, and that it would reduce the pressure on doctors. It wants to let patients take more control of their health. Not everyone likes the new health function. Some people say we must be careful about using Alexa for health advice and should see a doctor for serious health problems. Other people are worried about hacking. A privacy group said Alexa is, "a data protection disaster waiting to happen".
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Alexa - Level 2
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Technology is giving us more help with our healthcare. We can now ask the digital device Alexa for advice about our health. Alexa is a virtual assistant created by Amazon.com. It can listen to people and answer their questions. It can talk to people, make to-do lists, play music when asked to, and tell us the latest news. Now Alexa can answer our health questions. Amazon has teamed up with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to add health advice to Alexa. Alexa will search the NHS website for information and find an answer that is agreed on by health experts.
Alexa's new health advice function has had a mixed response. The UK Health Secretary said it is, "a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading advice" from their home. He said it will reduce the pressure on hardworking doctors and pharmacists. He wants to let patients take more control of their healthcare. Other people say we must be careful about trusting software for health advice. They say we must see a doctor for serious health problems. Other people are worried about privacy and hacking. A privacy group said Alexa is, "a data protection disaster waiting to happen".
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
Alexa - Level 3
Technology has taken another step in helping us with our healthcare. We can now ask the digital device Alexa for advice if we are worried about our health. Alexa is a virtual assistant created by the website Amazon.com. It is capable of listening to people and answering their questions. As well as voice interaction capabilities, Alexa can make to-do lists, play music upon voice request, and give us the latest news. Now Alexa can answer our health queries. Amazon has linked up with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to add a health advice capability to the software. Alexa will be able to search the NHS website for information and find an answer that is agreed on by many health experts.
Alexa's new health advice capability has been met with a mixed response. The UK Health Secretary said: "Technology like this is a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading advice from the comfort of their home, reducing the pressure on our hardworking doctors and pharmacists." He added: "We want to empower every patient to take better control of their healthcare." Other people say we need to be careful about trusting the advice of a piece of software. They say we must go to a human doctor if we have serious health problems. Other people are concerned about privacy. The group Big Brother Watch is worried about hacking. It said: "It's a data protection disaster waiting to happen."
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