Tomorrow, we’ll finally see Amazon’s (previously delayed) Alexa upgrade event, where Amazon is expected to announce generative AI capabilities for the voice assistant, allowing Alexa to understand natural language more easily and hold full conversations with users, among other potential tricks. As our consumer tech writer Samantha Kelly noted, “If announced, this would mark Alexa’s most significant evolution since its debut in 2014.”
A recent CNET survey found, however, that consumer sentiment is having trust issues with smarter smart home devices. Over 2,000 US adults were asked questions about how they feel about voice assistants in devices like Amazon Echo.
Key findings of CNET’s home voice assistant survey
- Home voice assistant usage: Half of US adults (50%) have used a home voice assistant this year (since Jan. 1). Amazon Alexa is the most popular among US adults (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.
- Features: Among those that have used a voice assistant so far this year, “ask a quick question” is the most common functionality (64%), followed by speakers, music and entertainment (49%), set timers (42%), set reminders (36%) and make calls to others (29%).
How will Amazon’s Alexa handle consumer resistance to AI and smart home? We could see new versions of Alexa Emergency Assist, a new approach to Alexa Skills, more smart home integrations — or even (fingers crossed) new Amazon Echo devices. Our earlier coverage noted that reports show that Amazon is interested in charging users a subscription for these new features, which, according to our survey, more than half of survey respondents said they would not pay anything extra for it.
The company is keeping details of the announcement a secret for now. But we’ll dive deeper to what our consumer survey found and what it all means for Amazon’s event on Feb. 26 and Apple’s expected leap into the smart home world later this year.
Home voice assistant users like Alexa, but competition is fierce
The second-gen Echo Spot in blue.
Amazon starts Alexa’s revival ahead in the numbers, but not by much. Around half of US adults have used a home voice assistant since Jan. 1, and Alexa ranked at the top with 27% reporting they activated the voice assistant. Apple’s Siri wasn’t far behind at 21%, with Google Assistant/Gemini in third at $18%.
Interestingly, those numbers reverse a bit when looking only at Gen Z adults. While millennials and Gen X prefer Alexa, Gen Z (at 27%) has a slight preference for Apple’s speedy Siri, which is also set for AI upgrades this spring. That indicates Alexa may have some catch-up work to do if it wants to appeal to a younger crowd.
But when was the last time you used a voice assistant for something complex in the first place? If you’re like our surveyed users, you probably stick to simple tasks: The most common activity for US adults was asking a quick question, followed by playing music or entertainment and setting timers/reminders. Using smart home commands was farther down the list, with only 23% of people saying they had ever controlled a smart home with voice assistants.
That, of course, is something Amazon wants to change. Much like Google’s Gemini reveal, we expect Amazon to focus on more complex use cases, encouraging Alexa users to hold longer conversations, complete more complex tasks or home routines — and probably shop more easily on Amazon. That brings up an issue on privacy our survey found.
