Considering how much attention the likes of Facebook and Google are giving them, conversational, AI-powered bots are our future, and the Amazon Echo is one of the most well-known smart home devices with a software-driven personality.
Alexa is the name of the AI and search technology that powers the Echo, and Amazon just released an online tool called Echosim.io so you can try out the technology for yourself, even if you don't have one of Amazon's devices at home.
You're going to need to log into the site using your Amazon credentials and grant the website access to your microphone, but setup just takes a couple of minutes and the service is free for anyone to make use of. You could have a Siri vs Alexa head-to-head challenge, if you really wanted to.
Smart attack
It's not the first time Alexa has appeared outside of the Echo, as we've also seen the smart assistant appear on a smartwatch, and Amazon seems keen to have its software technology available on a whole host of devices in the future.

With Google Home arriving later this year and Apple rumoured to be building an Echo competitor of its own, the quality of the underlying code is going to be crucial in helping customers pick one always-on smart home device from another.
There are now several Echo devices on sale, though they're still only available to customers in the US - how about some love for the rest of the world, Amazon? If you don't own an Echo, then Echosim.io is the next best thing.