The Growing Demand for Voice Assistants and Why They Are Useful

With voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Cortana being part of many people’s routine part of everyday life, it’s hard to imagine how they weren’t taken seriously back then. At first, people thought that voice assistants were nothing more than things out of a science fiction movie. Plus, there have been flops with such technologies, since Siri and Cortana in their early years had, one time, struggled to get an audience, due to their error rate and their narrow AI.

However, developers of these technologies still saw potential in voice assistants, despite their rocky start. And, with the future still out there, they knew that there was still more time for voice recognition to evolve.

And now, in 2020, AI is being fed more data, and being fine-tuned to the point where they can recognize most human speech. In addition, with more people going online to go shopping, look up things on Google or Bing, and the works, they’re now looking to voice assistants to make these tasks easier for them. This goes to show that voice search is slowly but surely taking the place of traditional internet search, and offering convenience to users.

Who Uses It?

Anyone can benefit from using a voice assistant. However, there are some categories of people who are more eager to use this technology than others. In fact, companies such as those who market their products and services to people will look at their marketing data and pinpoint what group or groups of people are using voice assistants to fulfill their needs like shopping. Even manufacturers of of voice-activated devices are able to look at the data, and see their target audiences based on the numbers.

For What Purposes?

It’s not surprising that people would use voice assistants for a number of reasons, or that they’re nothing new. According to Voice Tech Podcast, voice recognition can be “traced back to 1961,” since it was “integrated with smartphone operating systems” and “used for the most basic of tasks, such as making calls, sending texts, checking the weather, and so on.” Today, voice recognition can be used for “more complex activities, such as interacting with your smart home setup, finding directions to the nearest restaurant, or getting the latest scores on your favorite game.”

Therefore, it’s no surprise that people are relying on voice assistants now more than ever, especially since they’re quicker and more user-friendly than typing. In fact, people are relying on this technology now more than ever, because of the following reasons, besides the ones described by Voice Tech Podcast:

• People are excited about the speed at which they can complete routine.
• People can check on status and updates like traffic on the way to work before leaving home.
• People can interact with another person, or with a chatbot, anytime, anywhere.

With all the creative possibilities that come with this helpful technology, chances are people will use it every day. And it’s because of this high demand from people relying on this technology, voice assistants are growing more and more intelligent by understanding more human speech and emulating real-life conversations, as if someone was communicating with another person. And, with the advancements of this technology so far, this may all sound exciting for people who are interested in using it. According to a recent study from various research bodies, 50% of all web searches are expected to be done with voice by late 2020.

Is There Room For Improvement?

While voice assistance is still in the beginning stages, despite the advancements that we’ve seen over the years, there’s still plenty of room for improvement, and to make away for even more super smart assistants. In fact, as we look to the future, we’ll soon see voice assistants being integrated with more devices that are Internet-friendly.

Conclusion

Voice assistants have – and will continue to be – one of the most useful technologies that people will use on a regular (if not daily) basis. And, with its popularity continuing to grow in the coming years, this paves the way for things like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), thus making our daily tasks – and our lives, in general – easier, without (literally) having to lift a finger.

Lauren Groff writes at BoomEssays.com. She explores the world of voice assistants.