Alexa, can you help the lonely?
Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant is being used to keep elderly and disabled people company in trials that could offer a way for them to stay in touch with the outside world.
Councils insist that Alexa will only ever be used on top of existing care, and campaigners warned that computers must not be used as a replacement for human contact.
Oxfordshire County Council has already started to install the Amazon Echo speakers in the homes of elderly people.
For older people unfamiliar with the internet, it is hoped that a voiceactivated assistant such as Alexa will be a simpler way to find information online and also to keep in touch with relatives.