Barbie has been a lot of things over the years — a rock star, a doctor, a teacher — and more recently, she’s been interested in tech.

You may recall her recent book, Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer, which encouraged young girls to learn more about computer science, but it was widely deemed sexist; Barbie accidentally gives her sister Skipper a computer virus and has to rely on her two male friends to fix the issue.

But Mattel isn't backing down on embracing the tech world. Its latest doll, Hello Barbie ($75), is due out in early November, and her key feature is something we've become accustomed to in recent years: voice-recognition software. Yes, that's right: Barbie comes with Siri-like capabilities that let kids to have actual conversations with Barbie.

But unlike Siri, which can mostly answer questions based on web queries, Hello Barbie can have real back-and-forth dialogue with a child about career goals, interests, favorite ice cream flavors and listen (and tell) jokes.

When Hello Barbie was announced earlier this year, advocacy groups called the concept "creepy," claiming she had the ability to "eavesdrop" and listen in on what's happening at home. But because Barbie isn’t an always-on device, privacy shouldn’t be a concern, especially if a child is turning the doll on and off, Mattel told Mashable.

After Hello Barbie is synced up with a corresponding app and a Wi-Fi connection, she’s ready to be turned on via a small button on her belt. Her necklace blinks and glows green (notifying the user that the Wi-Fi connection is strong) and the built-in microphone is set to pick up on conversations.

Image: Mashable, Lili Sams

She comes with her own personalized charging station; there are magnets in her feet so she can stand up in the charging portal, while her back gets plugged in for refueling.

When someone says “Hi, Barbie. How are you?,” the doll "listens," and that audio is transferred via the cloud. A related piece of dialogue streams back to the doll and Barbie responds, “I’m good. How are you?” There are thousands of lines available in Barbie’s conversational repertoire, so chatting scenarios can play out in many ways.

Image: Mashable, Lili Sams

During a recent demo, Barbie asked what I wanted to be when I grow up. “I want to be a scientist,” I said, holding down the button on her belt which signals a user wants to communicate. “Eureka!” she gasped. “A scientist. I think scientists are so amazing. Why do you want to be a scientist?”

“I love mixing things together,” I responded.

“Wow, you sound to me like the next Marie Curie,” she said.

When the doll hits the market, you’ll be able to ask Barbie questions, too. Over time, she'll remember a child's interests and ask follow-up questions (i.e. Hello Barbie may inquire what the child is learning in science class, if that's the child's favorite class).

But Mattel makes it clear that it never asks about personal information, like where a child lives or even their name, for security and privacy reasons.

When a parent goes through the process of setting up Hello Barbie via the app, it's possible to control the settings and manually approve or delete potential conversation topics. For example, if a child doesn’t celebrate certain holidays like Christmas, a parent can chose to remove certain lines from Barbie's repertoire.

Image: Mashable, Lili Sams

This isn’t the first time Barbie has come with high-tech features. A few years ago, a Video Girl Barbie came with a video camera built in to her chest (think: mini GoPro), which allowed kids to see Barbie's world from her point of view.

Mattel has also experimented with talking toys in the past — with about 10 phrases on one topic — but this is the first time Barbie can, in theory, talk for hours about many subjects. While this is certainly an advancement in modern technology, we're unsure if that particular ability is a good thing.

Image: Mashable, Lili Sams

Since she's connected to the cloud, Barbie can be updated with new lines of dialogue at any time, too. This means if there’s a new Taylor Swift song on the radio that everyone is talking about, Hello Barbie will be ready to talk about it.

Mattel's goal is to use technology so Barbie fans can develop a deeper connection with the product. And it's on to something: for perhaps the first time, Barbie can meaningfully play back with a child, while encouraging imaginative playtime at the same time.

There are limitations, of course, like the inability to tinker too much with Barbie's wardrobe — something kids love to do. In this case, Barbie's belt, which serves as the on/off switch and communication hub, isn't removable.

But overall, the company's latest effort is a smart use of modern-day resources to show how powerful tech can be during playtime.