You get as much use out of home devices as you both need and devices that can interface with it.
I've configured my home device to respond to audio signals to operate lights, thermostat, and locks/unlocks doors on top of the usual day to day items. It sets alarms, plays music, tells the weather forecast and makes a great recipe book.
It can be useful if you feel comfortable with home automation that is being outsourced to Amazon (They have privacy controls that ostensibly allow you to decide how much data Amazon collects).