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?

Voice-activated assistants like Siri sit silently on smartphones until they’re needed – so it’s no surprise that 63% of people don’t realise they’re already using AI. With the launch of the Home Mini, Google is trying to make the technology similarly inconspicuous within a domestic setting.

As more and more people worldwide use virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa, both within homes and on the go, it’s becoming increasingly important for brands to consider how these AIs respond with their ‘voices’. What should they sound like, and what kind of tone should they take with users?

With Amazon, Google, and other tech giants continuing their voice assistant arms race, marketers are increasingly eyeing up the future potential of voice shopping. But research suggests that Alexa is more likely to recommend Amazon Prime products.