So instead of starting an instruction every time with 'Alexa, play some music', it could allow you to simply say, 'Play some music, Alexa.'

It may seem a little odd to have a human-like conversation with your smart speaker, but Amazon is headed that way with its voice-enabled Alexa.

According to a patent filed by Amazon at the US Patent and Trademark Office, the e-commerce giant is working on a system to enable a more natural conversation with Alexa.

The system would allow to capture and process portions of a spoken utterance, before a wake word. So instead of starting an instruction every time with 'Alexa, play some music', it could allow you to simply say, 'Play some music, Alexa'; making the conversation more natural and human-like.