AMAZON’S smart speaker is not yet ready for life’s bigger questions, it has emerged.

Since its launch, Alexa, the ‘intelligent personal assistant’, has helped people to find out what the weather is like, to listen to instantly forgettable music and to buy lots and lots and lots of stuff.

However, consumers are now discovering the device falls short when it comes to matters of existential malaise.

Nathan Muir, from Stevenage, said: “About a week after I installed it, I asked why man can’t live in peace with his fellow man, but it quickly became clear that Alexa did not have a clue.

“A week later I was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a flower in a vase, when I asked Alexa to define true happiness.

“After a long silence Alexa asked me if I wanted to order a smoothie maker.”

He added: “I assume Amazon is working on an existential update that will provide simple answers to immensely complex questions about the essential nature of being.

“Until then I’ll just stick to weather forecasts and ordering shoes I don’t need.”