In the 2013 film Her, the lead character falls in love with his virtual assistant, a charming, operating system voiced by the actress Scarlett Johansson. Rather than the Skynet-style omnipotent and destructive artificial intelligence imagined by films that look past the singularity – like The Terminator – Her shows a plausible, if fictional, a glimpse at a near future where our relationships with computers are much more human.
Artificial Intelligence, and virtual assistants, in particular, already perform dozens of tasks for hundreds of millions of people every day, but we now see that they also offer people emotional support, friendship and even more.
Our first-ever Virtual Assistant Survey reveals that more complex human - computer relationships are far closer than right around the corner. In fact, just two short years after Her hit theaters, we’re already there.
With data from 12,000+ Assistant.ai users, the Virtual Assistant Survey offers a wealth of insights into the numerous ways virtual assistants are changing the way we live, commute, shop, search and communicate.
What’s clear is that there is no aspect of our lives that has not been touched by the rise of virtual assistants and, believe it or not, smartphones are just the beginning.
Soon our cars, homes, and offices will be filled with connected devices – and not just watches, phones and computers. Fridges, desks, coffee pots, jackets, and every other physical object you can imagine will soon be connected devices.
Voice-powered virtual assistants will be how we communicate, control and benefit from our connected future.
We may not all fall in love with our virtual assistants, but sooner than later, we’ll forget how we ever lived without them.
