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Assistants Become More Proactive and 8 Other Predictions for 2022


VOICE ASSISTANTS BECOME MORE PROACTIVE AND 8 OTHER PREDICTIONS FOR 2022

Posted byKaren Scates
Jan 11, 2022January 14, 2022 •  11 minute read
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Looking forward to 2022, there has been a significant mindset shift from
predictions about advances in technology to insights into how technology is
being refined to meet customer needs across industries.

Consumer adoption continues to grow with predictions estimating that by 2024,
the number of digital voice assistants will reach 8.4 billion units—a number
higher than the world’s population, and brands across industries are feeling the
pressure to keep up with consumer demand and expectations for better user
experiences.

While the global challenges of the last year may have been the catalyst to move
voice AI technology from a nice-to-have for some companies to an essential
element of their overall customer experience framework, we predict that some of
those same elements will continue to push adoption forward with other factors
further accelerating growth for specific applications and industries.

Our voice AI predictions for 2022 are organized into nine major categories:

 1. Proactivity
 2. Consumer adoption
 3. Voice payments
 4. Voice ads
 5. Voice in enterprise
 6. Customer service
 7. Voice AI for smart homes
 8. Voice AI in gaming
 9. New ecosystem


1. “VOICE ASSISTANTS WILL BECOME MORE PROACTIVE”

Prediction: “Up until now, the default behavior for a voice assistant has been
to wait for a wake-up phrase or other form of user activation. In the near
future, we will see voice assistants taking a proactive role and providing
greater usefulness to users by collecting information about context and the
situation and then taking the initiative to make helpful suggestions and take
actions.” – Keyvan Mohajer, CEO, SoundHound Inc.

Consumers may start to see this type of interaction with in-car voice assistants
first, getting information about vehicle statuses such as fuel levels,
diagnostics and service needs, and system settings that may need attention. For
example, when the fuel level is low, voice assistants may suggest gas stations
nearby.

In addition, drivers may be able to get the weather, navigation, parking
information, calendar updates, reminders, and to-do lists without asking based
on the actions they are currently taking, the time of day or day of week, and
normal routines. 

When users opt-in to additional features, voice assistants can become truly
personal assistants when allowed to store certain information and learn
preferences. These personalizations may be extended into the smart home by
connecting the car to IoT devices and other home automation systems—allowing
drivers to perform tasks such as turning the lights off, setting the alarm,
preheating the oven, or turning up the thermostat on their way home at the end
of the day.

Once proactive voice assistants become available, we’ll see customer adoption
rise. Implementation beyond automotive to other industries will grow as voice
assistants prove their value by increasing ROI and delivering exceptional user
experiences.

Outside the automotive market, our teams saw applications for proactive voice
assistants in three key markets:

 * Smart TVs
 * Wearables
 * Smart Speakers


2. “USER ADOPTION WILL SPIKE”

Prediction: “Attention to user experiences, better voice recognition technology,
and more accurate responses will lead to an uptick in usage overall.” – James
Hom, VP of Product, SoundHound Inc.

Every year, we see an increase in the number of consumers using voice assistants
in smart speakers, cars, mobile apps, contact centers, and a number of other
rapidly growing applications. Just as we saw a 5% spike in use of voice
assistants at home in the first month of the pandemic, so do we expect to see
another uptick as the majority of brands pursue a shared goal of implementing
voice assistants that deliver consistent brand experiences regardless of
channel.

The ubiquity of voice assistants across industries will also lead to an increase
in usage as consumers are given more opportunities to create connections with
companies through their voice user interfaces. For instance, smart TVs will make
it easier and faster to find content in an ecosystem where new content is
constantly being created and consumers are becoming increasingly overwhelmed and
frustrated with clicking, swiping, and typing to find what they are looking
for. 


3. “VOICE PAYMENTS BECOME A REALITY”

Prediction: “Soon, the sound of your voice will be as identifiable as your
thumbprint. As such, voice assistants will be able to authenticate your saved
payment methods while in your car, through your smart TV, or out at a local
restaurant..” – James Hom, VP Product, SoundHound Inc.

Soon, conversational AI solutions will allow consumers to request and receive
safe payments through a voice assistant on any channel. The first instances of
these opportunities will most likely appear in automotive and home devices where
people feel more comfortable making purchases.

In addition, the ability to screen out ambient noise, authenticate users, and
validate payments will allow touchless interaction with payment devices in a
variety of locations outside the home.


4. “INTERACTIVE VOICE ADS TAKE THE STAGE”

Prediction: “As consumer behavior turns to voice interactions, the increase in
engagement rates will get the attention of advertisers who will see the value of
promoting their brands and offerings on individual voice platforms.” – Michael
Zagorsek, COO, SoundHound Inc. 

The ubiquity of voice assistants and the push to prove ROI on voice technology
investments are already driving business leaders across industries to seek more
avenues for monetization. Through partnerships and independently-owned ad
networks, these companies will be delivering a combination of interactive voice
ads and proactive and reactive purchasing suggestions to their audiences.

Voice ads and monetization opportunities haven’t become mainstream yet—due to
the fear that introducing advertising will negatively affect the customer
experience. But, proactive suggestions like asking if someone turning on a
football game would like to order a pizza for delivery will add value to the
customer experience, while generating revenue and real ROI on voice AI
investments.

In addition, voice ads represent a huge opportunity for companies who will be
able to measure audience response to their advertising messages in real-time and
for consumers who can ask to hear more or pass over the ad to get to the content
or experience they were originally seeking.


5. “VOICE WILL MOVE INTO THE WORKPLACE”

Prediction: “Any work environment where there is a lot of noise, people are
giving and receiving timely information, and where their hands are busy with
other tasks will be key areas for the growth of voice assistant implementation.”
– Majid Emami, VP of Engineering, SoundHound Inc. 

Advances in voice AI technology such as echo cancellation, beam forming, and
other noise cancellation innovations along with the availability of more Natural
Language Understanding (NLU) in embedded applications will see voice assistants
showing up to help workers be more efficient and productive. 

Headsets and wearables with voice AI technology that’s either embedded or uses a
hybrid connectivity model with some connection to the cloud will be made
available to workforces for whom hands-free communication and information
retrieval and reporting are critical to job performance.


Some likely applications include:

 * Airports
 * Manufacturing environments
 * Energy and utility workers
 * Other noisy work environments

What’s more, companies who have experienced the convenience and efficiency of
voice assistants for their customers will turn their attention internally and
offer voice AI technology to their employees.

Likely scenarios for employee-facing voice assistant applications include HR
platforms where employees report expenses and make travel plans. Instead of
collecting receipts and waiting for an opportunity to access a computer,
employees can make real-time expense claims and review reports for approval
anytime and anywhere. In addition, making, canceling, and changing travel plans
through a company travel planning application can happen on the go for employees
who are away from their desks.


6. “ASR IN THE CONTACT CENTER MOVES BEYOND TRANSCRIPTION”

Prediction: “Advances in automatic speech recognition (ASR) are creating new
opportunities to transform customer experiences by allowing AI engines to
accurately assess context and intent and provide agents with real-time guidance
and suggestions.” – Dave Rich, VP Enterprise, SoundHound Inc.

ASR technology is already creating accurate and timely transcriptions for call
centers, allowing companies to understand more about their products, services,
performance, and customer attitudes. The next step in this process involves
accurately identifying and reporting customer sentiment through conversational
analytics.

In the near future, the combination of real-time transcription capabilities and
technology that can identify intent will lead to interactive systems that can
help companies better manage their remote call center workforce and create
digital assistants that help agents to better understand customer questions and
respond with the most up-to-date and accurate information.


7. “MORE VOICE-ENABLED DEVICES IN THE HOME”

Prediction: “The availability of inexpensive microphones for individual smart
home products combined with the advent of very good voice AI with natural
language (NLU) capabilities for embedded and hybrid connected devices, will open
up the possibilities for manufacturers voice-enabling every product.” – James
Hom, VP Products, SoundHound Inc.

The availability of affordable voice AI and a range of connectivity options will
catalyze the creation of voice assistants for a variety of devices throughout
the home. Better embedded NLU and more connectivity options give device
manufacturers the freedom to increase and improve the functionality of their
products without complicating the interface for the user.

In addition, manufacturers looking for differentiation and more ways to create
connections with customers will begin taking a creative approach to voice
interfaces and adding different personalities appropriate to the situation. Soon
your refrigerator might quip, “What? Pasta again? Maybe add a green salad to
your entree.”

These personalized assistants will likely only store information locally,
further alleviating concerns around privacy and “listening in” to household
conversations that are associated with cloud-only smart speaker solutions.


8. “THE GAMING INDUSTRY WILL ADOPT VOICE”

Prediction: “As soon as one company in the gaming industry elevates the user
experience by adding a voice user interface, the rest of the industry will
follow.” – Michael Zagorsek, COO, SoundHound Inc.

Voice AI is already in use in the gaming industry as companies like
Readspeaker.ai build custom voices using advanced text-to-speech technology.
However, gamer-to-game voice interfaces are still somewhere in the future. We
may see some movement in 2022, but it’s a complicated effort as the voice user
interface can originate in one of three places:


 1. The gaming console
 2. The game developer
 3. The mobile app

Any one of these three players could emerge to lead gaming into the voice-first
era, it’s just not clear who it will be. Who will take the first step?

Some game developers of multi-person games are already talking about using
automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology to create real-time transcriptions
of online gaming conversations in an effort to proactively control language and
abuse. These transcriptions can also be used to help gamers who report abuse to
prove their case and give gaming developers a reason to act.


9. “VOICE AI WILL BECOME A NEW ECOSYSTEM”

Prediction: “Traditional web search and manually interacting with machines will
continue to exist, but just like other technological advances in the past, voice
will form its own ecosystem as the preferred method of interaction with devices
and brands.” – Keyvan Mohajer, CEO, SoundHound Inc. 

As voice becomes the preferred interface for consumers, devices that don’t need
a screen for operation will likely start to be manufactured without one. If
you’re questioning the future adoption of voice AI, watch how Generation Z
interacts with their handheld devices. Once the next generation of adults start
expecting every device to answer them, device manufacturers will have to provide
voice interfaces or be left behind.

In all, 2022 promises to be an exciting year for the voice AI industry as a
whole and for companies that are providing the technologies and platforms that
will help brands to design and develop customized voice assistants that meet
their needs and the desires of their customers.

We predict that customer experience will still be king and that 2022 will reign
as the year of the customer with voice interfaces creating frictionless,
conversational, and hands-free access to technology. At SoundHound, we’re
excited to see all the innovation that’s happened and continues to help us to
progress toward our goal to voice-enable the world around us and allow people to
interact with machines the way they do each other—by simply talking.

We have all the tools and expertise needed to create custom voice assistants and
a consistent brand voice. Explore our independent voice AI platform at
SoundHound.com and register for a free account. Want to learn more? Talk to us
about how we can help bring your voice strategy to life.



Karen Scates is a storyteller with a passion for helping others through content.
Argentine tango, good books, and great wine round out Karen’s interests.


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