The mainstreaming of AI is setting a new precedent for how people relate to non-human sources of intelligence. While automation on a consumer level has typically focused on specific tasks like replying to emails or budgeting, it’s now swiftly expanding to a more dynamic range of applications.

Voice recognition tech is becoming increasingly advanced, leading more people to use it in their everyday lives; the virtual assistant market is set to be worth $3.07 billion by 2020, and Amazon expects to sell ten million Echo devices in 2017 alone. But do people really want to chat to their devices?

Beyond Verbal has created technology that extracts a person's full set of emotions and character traits, using just their raw voice in real-time, as they speak. Their goal is to improve voice-enabled, voice-activated and voice-controlled devices.

Rhythm and rhyme have been around since the beginning of time, and spoken word is now booming in Britain, with brands like the BBC and McCain harnessing this ancient art form in their campaigns. But what makes poetry more persuasive and engaging than non-rhyming prose in advertising?

With 60% of Americans using the voice-activated concierge service on their smartphone every day, people are growing accustomed to the idea of interacting with a virtual assistant. Tapping into the trend, Amazon has launched a smart speaker that acts like a home assistant.