Amazon's Alexa will give medical advice from the NHS

The NHS has teamed up with Amazon to bring its health information to Alexa. As part of the NHS' long term plan to make its services available digitally, users will soon be able to ask Alexa questions such as "Alex, how do I treat a migraine?" or "Alexa, what are the symptoms of chicken pox?" Alexa will then provide information drawn directly from the NHS website.

Heralded as a world first, the collaboration is designed to help patients -- such as the elderly and blind -- who can't access the internet through traditional means, which could reduce pressure on the NHS and local GPs. Plus, of course, by linking directly to official and reliable NHS information, users are less likely to stumble upon random medical advice -- anyone who's ever Googled their symptoms knows how much of a minefield that can be.