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The Secret Genius of Modern Life

Series 1

Virtual Assistant

Duration: 58 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Two HDLatest broadcast: on BBC Two Wales

Available for years

Hannah Fry delves into the inner workings of virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, which are now found in almost half of all UK homes.

Hannah goes behind the scenes with Alexa’s chief scientist, reveals how secret technology invented to hunt U-boats led to their targeted hearing and discovers modern wireless networks' debt to a 1940s Hollywood star. Show less

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