I just finished “reading” the first chapter of the latest Nathaniel Philbrick book. I asked the Amazon Echo speaker a simple question: Can you read the latest book in my Audible library? Alexa obliged without any fanfare, the steady tone of a narrator taking over.

In case you were wondering, this is not possible with the latest, greatest Google device, what is possibly the best Android phone ever. The Google Pixel XL I’m testing has a voice assistant, which you can access by saying “OK, Google” or by long-pressing on the home button. It’s called, in what is either the most generic name for an A.I. ever invented or the clearest sign of the coming robopocalypse, the Assistant.

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