{"id":11586,"date":"2017-12-12T09:01:33","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T14:01:33","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:57:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:57:56","slug":"nearly-half-of-americans-use-digital-voice-assistants-mostly-on-their-smartphones","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2017\/12\/12\/nearly-half-of-americans-use-digital-voice-assistants-mostly-on-their-smartphones\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly half of Americans use digital voice assistants, mostly on their smartphones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Voice-controlled digital assistants are being incorporated into a wide range of consumer products, and nearly half of U.S. adults (46%) say they now use these applications to interact with smartphones and other devices, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice assistants are present on a wide range of devices, but the most common way for Americans to use them is on a smartphone: 42% of U.S. adults use voice assistants in this way. Some 14% of the public has used a voice assistant on a computer or tablet, while 8% say they use them on a stand-alone device such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These applications are relatively popular among those ages 18 to 49: 55% of Americans in this age group say they use voice assistants, compared with 37% of those 50 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Presented with a number of reasons why they might use voice assistants, 55% of users say \u201ca major reason\u201d they use the assistants is that these applications allow them to interact with their devices without using their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller shares say that they use voice assistants because they are fun (23% cite this as a \u201cmajor reason\u201d), because speaking to the assistant feels more natural than typing (22%), or because these programs are easier for children to use (14%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice assistants can also be used as \u201cremote controls\u201d of other connected systems such as car locks and home lighting and heating systems. About a quarter of voice assistant adopters (26%) say they use the assistants to connect remotely to other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about the performance of the assistants, a majority of users say they accurately respond to their commands most (39%) or some (42%) of the time. Even so, 16% of users say that these assistants accurately respond to their commands \u201cnot very often.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The survey also asked Americans who say they do not<\/em> use voice assistants about their reasons for not using them. Some 61% of these non-users say they are just not interested in the tool. Around one-quarter of this group say they do not use voice assistants because none of the devices they own have this feature (28%) or because they are concerned about privacy (27%). And a slightly smaller share (18%) reports that voice assistants are too complicated to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Full methodology and topline are available here<\/a> (PDF).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voice-controlled digital assistants are being incorporated into a wide range of consumer products, and many U.S. adults say they now use these 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