COVID-19, Voice Technology and The Next Billion Users
As we march into a post-pandemic world, voice is going to be the tie that will connect us all and will remain at the forefront of the majority of digital innovations. And with ever-growing concern over the health and safety of their consumers, an increasing number of brands are adopting innovative solutions involving conversational AI to curb the spread of the infection.
The global pandemic has called for social and physical distancing as well as the need to maintain excellent hygiene. There is a need to restrict the use of objects that could act as ‘Fomites’- materials carrying pathogens. Now, with voice technology reaching every nook and cranny of our lives, this job can become more easygoing.
Out of the five senses, touch is one of the most vital sensations. And this has led to the creation and mass adoption of digital interactions modelled around ‘touch’ and ‘type’. But in a post-pandemic world, where surfaces have become active contributors to the spread of the virus, an increasing number of people are now hesitant in using digital surfaces present in high-risk environments. And as talking and hearing go together, the paradigm shift from ‘touching’ to ‘talking’ to a machine is getting accelerated.
Did you know that mobile phones and remote controls are the Petri dishes of bacteria and viruses since they generate heat and stay in the darkness of our pockets. As per the scientists at the University of Arizona, “Cellphones and remote control devices carry ten times more pathogens than most toilet seats.”
When switching over to a voice-activated system like Alexa or Google Assistant, the threat of the spread of the virus is reduced manifold. Moreover, it tends to make our daily lives simpler and more efficient. An excellent example of this in our daily lives would be voice-controlled smart home spaces. It not only saves time but also reduces contact with commonly and frequently touched surfaces like door locks, doorbells, switchboards, and even mobile phones and remote controls. Voice technology can now prevent us from getting our hands ‘dirty’.
The adoption of voice technology was already gathering a significant pace even before the start of the pandemic. And ever since the lockdown, as more and more people seek to minimize personal contact and find new ways to keep themselves entertained, there has been a significant increase in the adoption of these AI-based, voice-enabled systems.
The Next Billion Users
In India, Haptik quickly developed and launched a WhatsApp chatbot for providing information about the Coronavirus to the Indian populace. Around 20 million people actively used the chatbot to gain information about the virus. The support for Hindi, the mother tongue of over half a billion people, was added later to the chatbot. The conversational interface is a simple rule-based one as opposed to a complex AI. However, these chatbots often lay the groundwork for future voice-first solutions.
Amidst the pandemic, an increasing number of brands are tapping into the vast potential of Voice. Amazon and Flipkart, two of the most significant players in the eCommerce space, have launched voice assistants to augment the shopping experience on their apps. A curious thing to note is that a lot of their customers are first-time internet users for whom a vernacular-first conversational medium can prove to be more engaging than the traditional touch-type-based interface.
The same principle applies to the banking sector as well. People are now hesitant while accessing shared devices like ATMs and passbook printing kiosks. In a densely populated country such as India, queuing up to avail essential banking services poses a threat to both the customers and the employees. And when the majority of the consumers are non-native speakers of English hesitant in accessing information using touch-based interfaces, using a vernacular-first conversational medium to serve them can certainly be a way forward. ICICI Bank (one of the major banks in India) recently launched iPal, an omnichannel bot for users to access the bank’s services. State Bank of India, the bank with the largest market share in India, has also introduced contactless credit cards to facilitate payments. By labelling life in a post-pandemic world as the ‘new normal’, they’re pushing a new form of payment while being mindful of the health and safety of their customers.
Since the lockdown, kids have been staying at home and accessing study material online. But according to a recent study, less than 50% of pupils submit the schoolwork assigned to them. Low engagement rates have been a problem for the teachers as well as the parents. A lot of the teachers agree that at least for the kids, a gamified voice-based interactive assignment can prove to be engaging. And with Alexa blueprints, setting up a quiz-based assignment is now easier than ever.
A post-pandemic world will also see increased adoption of new marketing channels. Since the majority of the population won’t be returning to their workplaces any time soon, the billboards next to the freeway will certainly grab fewer eyeballs. And due to the ever-growing ecosystem of voice-activated smart assistants in people’s homes, Voice will become an important marketing channel.
A Post-Pandemic Affair
Sources reveal that last year the annual voice control device shipments reached approximately 141 million. This demand will rise by 30 per cent in 2020. Also, if we take a look at the broader voice technology market, research reveals 4.2 billion active devices in use this year. Researchers predict these numbers to hit around 8.4 billion by 2024.
This continuous rise in the adoption of voice-activated AI, coupled with the pandemic implies that in the days to come, the question of, ‘Why Voice?’ shall be replaced by ‘Why not Voice?’ With growing concerns over accessing touch-type-based interfaces in high-risk settings like grocery stores, restaurants and workplaces, people will be more inclined to use voice-activated systems. Before the pandemic, Voice was considered an investment in future tech. But in a post-pandemic world, this will now be seen as the brand’s mindfulness of their customers’ and employees’ health and safety. And for India, where the majority of the population is coming online for the first time, a vernacular-first conversational AI will see an increased adoption rate over the more conventional touch-type-based interfaces for a lot of use cases.
Voiceano is a conversation design studio that crafts voice strategies and designs conversational interfaces for brands. If you feel that your brand needs a voice, then you should definitely grab a drink with us! 🍻😄
