POV
How AI Assistants Are Getting Closer Than Ever
By: Alison McDougall
Many moons ago, I wrote my first blog, which explored the rise of voice search. At the time, it felt like we were on the cusp of something remarkable, being able to ask our phones or smart speakers simple questions like, “Alexa, what’s a substitute for milk in baking?” and get an instant answer. Fast forward a few years, and I find myself wanting to revisit that theory, but this time through the lens of how voice search has evolved into something far more intelligent, intuitive, and dare I say…human.
Today’s voice assistants are no longer just glorified search engines with personality and customizable accents. They’re quickly transforming into collaborators, companions and, in some cases, emotional soundboards. It’s starting to remind me of a movie I’ve seen called Her.
For those who missed the 2013 film, Her follows the story of a lonely man named Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who falls in love with his AI operating system named Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Samantha isn’t just helpful. She’s empathetic, conversational, and evolves emotionally as she interacts more with Theodore. What begins as a convenience becomes a deeply personal relationship.
At the time, the movie felt surreal—albeit a little unsettling, and very much science fiction. But today, it feels much more real.
Smart speakers like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have become household staples, my home has two, but until recently, their capabilities were fairly limited: playing music, setting timers, and answering direct questions. Now, with the rise of generative AI, we’re on the brink of a major shift.
Voice assistants are beginning to integrate:
- Memory and context: Remembering your preferences, routines, and even your tone of voice.
- Conversational flow: Holding longer, more natural conversations without starting from scratch every time.
- Emotional intelligence: Picking up on mood, adapting tone, offering empathy.
We’re not just giving commands anymore, we’re beginning to connect on a personal level.
As AI voice assistants level up, the perks are pretty impressive. They’re becoming much like that super-organized friend who remembers everything—except they also live in your speaker and don’t judge your social media algorithms. From helping people with mobility or visual impairments. to keeping your to-do lists in check, to telling your kids why the sky is blue again, they’re making everyday life easier, more accessible, and occasionally more fun (yes, even when they mispronounce your mother-in-law’s name in your calendar invite). There’s even potential for them to support mental wellness, offering a calm, consistent voice in the moments when you need it most.
But, as with all good things, there’s a flip side—and it’s not Alexa telling you to “serve it anyway” when you tell it you’ve used salt instead of sugar in the recipe for your child’s birthday cake. With all that listening power comes serious privacy concerns, which is something I explored in my original blog. Emotional manipulation is cause for concern, if your AI assistant starts to sound more thoughtful than your partner, that’s a red flag. There’s also the risk of becoming too reliant; when visiting a new city, you ignore your instincts, letting your AI lead the way, and miss the hidden gems just around the corner, could be time to “unplug”. And let’s not forget the biases built into the tech, if it’s trained on flawed data, it’s going to reflect that. Basically, we humans are building super smart, always-on roommates, and we need to be very sure we trust them—but not too much.
Now, we’re witnessing the further rise of AI companions that live in our homes, help manage our lives and potentially understand us better than ever before. So, the question isn’t just how smart these assistants will become, but how human we want them to be.
Because as convenient as it all sounds, we should probably ask ourselves: Are we evolving with AI, or simply outsourcing the effort?
