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Can Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant and Siri save your life? A mixed-methods analysis of virtual digital assistants and their responses to first aid and basic life support queries

04 February 2020

Can Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant and Siri save your life? A mixed-methods analysis of virtual digital assistants and their responses to first aid and basic life support queries
Christopher Picard, Katherine Elizabeth Smith, Kelly Picard, Matthew John Douma

BMJ Innovations
Published Online First: 07 January 2020.
doi: 10.1136/bmjinnov-2018-000326

This is the first study to assess virtual digital assistants from a first aid and basic life support perspective, finding potential in this technology to provide life-saving instructions and activate the emergency response system. When asked common first aid related questions Google Home and Alexa outperformed Siri and Cortana. Overall, the device responses were of mixed quality ranging from the provision of factual guideline-based information to no response at all.

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