Smartphones not so smart with urgent medical questions


  • TECH
  • Wednesday, 16 Mar 2016

On the rise: The jump in 2015 fatalities follows a decline in annual traffic deaths to 32,675 last year.

Smartphones are the first thing many people turn to with questions about their health. But when it comes to urgent queries about issues like suicide, rape and heart attacks, phones can be pretty bad at offering good medical advice, a new study suggests. 

Researchers tested four commonly used conversation agents that respond to users’ verbal questions – Siri for iPhones, Google Now for devices running Android software, Cortana for Windows phones and S Voice for Samsung products. 

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