How the next big thing in techvoice computingis upending Silicon Valley and will soon change our livesEvery decade or so brings a seismic shift in how people interact with technology from the PC to the internet to the smartphone. James Vlahos shows that we are on the cusp of the next crucial shiftto voice computing.Siri and Alexa are early forms of this technology but the day is approaching when we will speak with our phones appliances and cars as fluently as we do with each other. Vlahos illuminates the enormous AI challenges that voice computing presents and unpacks its vast economic cultural and psychological impact. Behind the scenes reporting reveals how Google Apple Microsoft and other titans are waging a multibillion dollar war to create the new voice driven interfaces that will dominate the future. Amazon for one already has thousands of employees working on voice computing and other companies are making similarly huge investments.Vlahos doesnt shy away from the troubling ethical questions that voice computing raises. Will people become emotionally dependent on lifelike computers Will we confide in them in ways that further erode our privacy Will they deepen our addiction to all things digital