People use voice assistants for a variety of reasons and are conducting an increasing number of activities. Top tasks include getting directions, making phone calls, listening to music and finding nearby stores, according to a Social Lens Research study conducted in August 2018.
Voice assistant use also cuts across various demographics. For example, there will be 57.6 million female and 54.2 million male voice assistant users in the US this year. This equates to 34.4% of women and 33.3% of men who use voice assistants at least monthly. While early use tended to skew slightly more female, the percentage of males using voice assistants has accelerated in recent years.
Today, most people use their voice assistants on smartphones and smart speakers. Smartphones, by a wide margin, are most common. This is not surprising, given the sheer numbers: The US penetration rate for smartphones is 70.5%, and most models now come equipped with—or can download—voice assistant software.