Can virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa help manage addictions? Doctors have put them to the test

In response to 70 help-seeking queries, the intelligent virtual assistants returned only four useful replies. — AFP Relaxnews

A team of American doctors has highlighted the key role that virtual assistants could play in helping to prevent addiction. The researchers suggest, for example, that they could instruct smartphone users to avail of free treatment referral services.

Smartphone virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri and Bixby are handy when you want to consult tomorrow's weather forecast, find the nearest open pharmacy or access a list of movie times. But can they help you stop smoking and drinking? This is the question that a group of medical professors at the University of California, San Diego, decided to explore.