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.

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?

We’re now constantly connected – the average person checks their phone 150 times a day – but it’s an unwanted burden for many. Canvas8 spoke with cyborg anthropologist Amber Case, author of Calm Technology, to understand the importance of designing tech that respects people’s limited attention.

Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa has been accused of being a ‘lefty liberal’, after responding to questions about feminism and other social issues with traditionally left-wing answers. The criticism speaks to people’s concerns about tech tools and platforms being embedded with biased beliefs and ideologies.