Needy, Overconfident Voice Assistants are Wearing on Their Owners’ Last Nerves

upstart writes:

Needy, overconfident voice assistants are wearing on their owners' last nerves:

[...] "Hey Alexa, play 'Despacito,'" [Kate] Compton said into the ether from her home in Evanston, Ill., where she teaches computer science at Northwestern University. A nearby smart speaker launched into an explanation: The Luis Fonsi song was not available, but it could be if Compton paid for a subscription. Alexa proceeded to walk us through the pricing plans.

Compton tried again: "Hey Alexa, play classical music."

"Here's a station you might like," Alexa said tentatively, adding that the songs were hosted on Amazon Music.

Americans welcomed voice assistants into their homes on claims that Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant would be like quasi-human helpers, seamlessly managing our appointments, grocery lists and music libraries. From 2019 to 2021, the use of voice assistants among online adults in the United States rose to 30 percent from 21 percent, according to data from market research firm Forrester. Of the options, Siri is the most popular - 34 percent of us have interacted with Apple's voice assistant in the last year. Amazon's Alexa is next with 32 percent; 25 percent have used Google Assistant; and Microsoft's Cortana and Samsung's Bixby trail behind with five percent each.

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