In Alexa we trust..?

The big news in healthcare technology last month centred on the announcement that the NHS has partnered with Amazon’s Alexa to bring users instant health advice. Reactions have been very split amongst consumers, healthcare professionals and technology experts, with the most notable topic of concern sitting around the protection of data.

So, in the wake of the overstretched GP services and post-GDPR data breaches, what are the pros and cons of such technology?

Guaranteed NHS sources

Voice assistants have become second nature to some and arguably, for those with web accessibility issues, a useful resource in everyday life. The new partnership between Amazon and the NHS at least guarantees that your medical query will be answered using NHS information – therefore telling us nothing that its website couldn’t and theoretically avoiding hypochondria or panic.

Encouraging self-care to reduce GP strain

As the NHS website will tell you, for minor conditions, you can quite often manage symptoms at home with rest, pain medication or a trip to the pharmacy. With the convenience of your voice assistant relaying this information, it’s hoped that this will reduce the number of same-day appointments booked up for non-emergencies.

However, there is a caveat in this solution in that your voice assistant cannot accurately distinguish symptoms (thankfully) to understand whether your sore throat is a cold or something more complicated.

We’ve been fooled before

You remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal, right? This is the biggest example of consumer data being used in ways which we do not understand (that we know of). Whilst, in a way, we’re our own worst enemies for agreeing to terms that we haven’t really read nor understood, this went way beyond in that personal data of millions was harvested without knowledge or consent – potentially being used to create propaganda to manipulate voting decisions.

I’m not saying that Amazon is doing this, but I’m saying that there have been cases like this before and I’m also sure this isn’t the end of it. It’s not too unrealistic that organisations could use health data to target audiences for treatments, medical procedures or even services such as will writing.

Amazon ‘check’ the quality of voice assistants

Did you know that Amazon employ people to review voice assistant recordings? Whilst this isn’t a secret, it’s also something that many of us overlook when agreeing to use services – and companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple have previously been vague in how they communicate this. As of the start of this month, Amazon is only just making it possible to opt-out of human recording reviews.

This data is supposedly anonymised but, again, how do we know this for sure when similar breaches have occurred? Whistleblowers at Apple have already confirmed instances in which private discussions have been recorded by voice assistants that have activated accidentally – including medical appointments – whilst slip-ups at Amazon have seen identifiable voice recordings sent to the wrong user after a GDPR request.

I’m a big believer in the power of technology to do good in the world – and particularly in healthcare. AI is already doing wonderful things in taking some healthcare services further than ever before, but I think, in this instance, it’s a space to keep a close eye on.