Virtual Health Assistants

Abstract

There is no doubt that virtual assistants, such as Alexa and Siri, have changed the human-computer interface forever. These capabilities bring convenience, relatability, and, at times, safety to our daily lives. It must also be noted, however, that these “assistants” have surveillance capabilities at their core. The average user really does not know what the devices are recording, transmitting, or measuring. The privacy, cybersecurity, and physical security hazards of these technologies are becoming well known and understood, and the application of these devices to healthcare use cases must be approached with care and skepticism that are at least equal to the optimism with which they are currently being hyped and marketed.