According to a CNET survey, 73% of users are concerned about their privacy, despite Amazon's big Alexa AI upgrade being teased for tomorrow.
Amazon’s long-delayed Alexa update will finally be unveiled tomorrow at an event where the company is anticipated to reveal generative AI
Capabilities for the voice assistant, which will enable Alexa to comprehend natural language more readily and have lengthy conversations with users,
Among other possible tricks. “If announced, this would mark Alexa’s most significant evolution since its debut in 2014.
Said Samantha Kelly, our consumer tech correspondent. However, customers have trouble trusting smarter smart home devices, according to a recent CNET survey.
More than 2,000 persons in the United States were surveyed regarding their opinions of voice assistants found in gadgets such as the Amazon Echo.
Key findings of CNET's home voice assistant survey
Usage of home voice assistants: Since January 1, half of US adults (50%) have used a home voice assistant. Among US adults, Amazon Alexa is the most popular (27%).
AI: Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) home voice assistant users have privacy concerns about AI integrations on smart home voice assistants and more than half (56%) would not be willing to pay an extra subscription fee for additional AI features.
Trust: Trust around AI features slightly differs by brand among all US respondents, with Amazon (Alexa) being the most trusted (27%). Gen Z (61%) and millennials (56%) are the most trusting of brands regarding AI in voice assistants.
Home voice assistant users like Alexa, but competition is fierce
Though not by much, Amazon leads Alexa’s comeback in the numbers. Alexa was the most popular voice assistant, with 27% of US consumers claiming they activated it. Approximately 50% of US individuals have used a home voice assistant since January 1. Google Assistant/Gemini came in third at $18%, while Apple’s Siri trailed closely behind at 21%.
When focusing solely on Gen Z adults, those figures somewhat reverse. Gen Z (at 27%) has a small preference for Apple’s quick Siri, which is also getting AI updates this spring, while millennials and Gen X favor Alexa. That suggests that if Alexa wishes to appeal to a younger audience, it may need to catch up.
Privacy fears remain with AI, and extra fees are a problem for users
In general, people are unsure about the future of artificial intelligence. The majority of respondents (34%) said they were “meh” when asked if they would use a voice assistant more frequently with new AI features. The percentage of current customers who said they would be interested in utilizing voice assistants more if they received intelligence increases was just 34%.
The good news for Amazon is that voice assistant users ranked Alexa and Amazon as the most trustworthy AI (27%) with Apple Siri (24%) and Google Assistant (23%) tying for second place. However, 73% of respondents were worried about privacy threats while utilizing AI capabilities, and 50% of respondents stated they had no faith in home voice assistants at all.
