"Reach out," the old jingled implored. "Reach out and touch someone." That was the 1980s, and the metaphor of physical touch helped humanize the still-nascent technology of long-distance phone calls.

Since Siri was first built into the iPhone 4S in 2011, the voice assistant has been synonymous with Apple's line of smartphones. Being able to control your device with your voice and have it talk back ...