April 29, 2024

Vetting voicebot vulnerability

Alexa, Siri, Google, and other voice assistants are listening to more people than ever before. For proof, consider that the number of US voice assistant users is forecast to exceed 162 million by 2027, up from 145 million in 2023, with around 46 million millennials and 45 million regularly using voice assistants today, according to Insider Intelligence data. Market Research Future expects the voice assistant market to grow to $30.72 billion by 2030.

But note that nearly 7 in 10 consumers worldwide are either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy online, per the IAPP Privacy and Consumer Trust Report 2023, with 57% of consumers believing that AI poses a major threat to their privacy. Many of these worries pertain to the increasingly ubiquitous and pervasive presence of voicebots and voice assistants used by companies, especially in customer service capacities. People are becoming more aware and troubled about the collection, storage, and utilization of their data by corporate America, particularly in terms of data security and privacy.

Learn more about this topic by reading my newest article for Speech Technology Magazine, available here.