Technology has brought us Alexa and Google Assistant to make our lives easier. Voice assistants can tell you the best route to take, today's weather, and even order you pizza, and while we all know they are simply programs, we can't help but ask them the silliest of questions just to test if they can answer like us.
Luckily, programmers continue to provide answers to such nonsensical questions because... well, they know people will eventually ask them. Currently, Google Assistant appears to be the most natural-sounding assistant, but Alexa is also as entertaining as your quirky roommate.
For most of us, it's all for the fun of it, but these fun moments you have with your voice assistant could actually result in something more productive.
"Customers ... wanted to have fun with her," Alison Tintle, Amazon Alexa's creative director, told CNET. "It was really interesting after we launched to learn how customers also wanted to know Alexa's opinion on things, things like Alexa's favorite color or pet."
Customers are attracted to the idea of Alexa not only for practicality but also because she's relatable. If Amazon's voice assistant has the ability to make good comebacks, people will likely use her for more practical tasks.
Users who prefer Google Assistant also love the fact that it can respond to a lot of queries, even ones that aren't really important. Over the past few years, both Alexa and Google Assistant have improved so much that they can actually carry conversations. You can even adjust the speaking tone or choose a celebrity voice.
As for Siri, she serves her purpose well, but reading verbatim is no fun at all -- we can all agree to that. Alexa is gradually developing a lot of personality, but users vote Google Assistant as the most natural of them all.
So here's something to think about: If we can command voice assistants to perform practical tasks, say, check the price of an item and turning off the lights, do we really need them to have more human personalities?
If we review each assistant's popularity among consumers, then yes, it seems they're way better if they can tell a joke or two. Look at Bixby or Siri, whose success is not as great as Google Assistant and Alexa. Google and Amazon did a fantastic job hiring programmers and writers who work so hard to come up with the perfect response to your questions and make voice assistants as entertaining as they can be.
Voice assistants have become so successful in this generation not only because they're convenient and helpful. Their human-like personality is an important ingredient as well.
