Voice assistants have an indispensable future

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• February 11, 2022

Insight summary

Voice assistants or VAs are increasingly woven into the fabric of our lives, providing help with everyday tasks and offering instantaneous access to information. Their rise has shifted how we interact with technology, particularly search engines, and businesses are harnessing their potential for smoother operations. As they evolve, VAs are becoming more proactive and personalized, anticipated to greatly affect energy consumption, labor markets, regulation, and inclusivity for different populations.

Voice assistant context

VAs are rapidly integrating into the fabric of our daily routines. You can see them in many forms - they are present in our smartphones, in our laptops, and even in standalone smart speakers like Amazon's Echo or Google's Nest. From seeking directions via Google when you're driving, to requesting Alexa to play a favorite song, humans are becoming more and more comfortable with asking machines for help. At first, these assistants were seen as a cool novelty. However, as time goes on, they are transforming into vital tools that both individuals and businesses rely on for their day-to-day operations.

Prior to the widespread use of VAs, individuals had to manually input questions or phrases into a search engine to find answers to their inquiries. However, voice assistants have simplified this process significantly. They're powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which can comprehend your spoken question, search the web for an answer, and deliver a response to you in just a few seconds, removing the need for manual searching.

On the business side of things, many companies are now recognizing and leveraging the benefits of VA technology. This trend is particularly useful in providing both their employees and clients with instant access to information. For instance, a client might use a VA to ask about the details of a product or service, and the VA can provide the answer immediately. Similarly, an employee could ask the VA for updates on company-wide news or for help scheduling meetings.

Disruptive impact

Because VAs generally provide the user with the top result from a search engine in response to a query, businesses and organizations are finding it increasingly important to make sure their information appears first on search results pages. This trend has caused a shift in the strategies used for search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO, which previously focused on typed queries, now also needs to consider spoken queries, changing how keywords are chosen and how content is written and structured.

VA technologies are not static; they continue to evolve, growing more sophisticated with each update. One of the areas of development is their ability to be more proactive in anticipating user needs. Imagine a scenario where a VA reminds you to bring an umbrella because it predicts rain later in the day, or where it suggests a healthier dinner option based on your past meals. By beginning to anticipate users' needs or desires, VAs could transition from being a passive tool to an active aid in our daily lives.

Another exciting development is the possibility of more personalized interactions. As AI technology develops, it's learning more about human behavior and preferences. This feature could lead to voice assistants that can interact with users in a more individualized way, understanding and responding to personal speech patterns, habits, and preferences. This increased personalization could lead to a deeper connection between users and their VAs, fostering more trust in their responses and a greater reliance on their capabilities. 

lmpIications of voice assistants

Wider applications of VAs may include:

• Enabling users’ ever-increasing multi-tasking capabilities by freeing up their hands and minds. For instance, by allowing people to conduct online searches while driving, making food, or focusing on work that requires their direct attention.
• Offering people comfort in the form of an AI companion that helps them carry out daily tasks.
• Gathering data on how AI programs influence human behavior and decisions.
• Integrating VAs into more connected devices, such as home appliances, cars, sales terminals, and wearables.
• Developing VA ecosystems that cross over devices, from the home to the office and automobile.
• More jobs requiring digital skills to manage and interact with these technologies.
• A significant increase in energy consumption due to the continuous running of such devices, putting pressure on efforts to conserve energy and manage environmental impacts.
• Strengthened regulation on data handling and protection, ensuring a balance between technological advancement and the privacy of citizens.
• VAs becoming a critical tool for people with disabilities or the elderly, allowing them to live more independently.

Questions to consider

• Do you think VAs limit people’s ability to make decisions by only showing the information or products that algorithms deem to be the best answer?
• How much resistance do you predict there will be against bringing even more AI-powered technologies into people’s homes and lives?
• How can businesses better integrate VAs into their non-consumer-facing business operations?