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Voice assistants, smart speakers, and all manner of voice-first technology have enjoyed remarkable growth and adoption. Voicebot.AI reports that the smart speaker install base within the U.S. grew 40% from 2018 to 2019, now exceeding 66 million units. International markets have grown even more dramatically — Dutch adoption of smart speakers exploded from 0% to 5% in just four and a half months, for example, with no sign of slowing down.

Voice-first doesn’t mean voice-only, though. Smart speakers with screens — generally referred to as “smart displays” — are surging in popularity as well. In January of 2018, there were 1.3 million smart display owners in the U.S., and by the end of the year, that number had risen to 8.7 million — an increase of 558%. Products like Amazon’s Echo Show and the Google Home Hub upped the ante on expectations for voice-first technology.

The emergence of voice, which serves as the front door for artificial intelligence and machine learning, is already making a mark on a wide variety of industries. Consider these examples:

Banking

• Capital One was the first financial company to introduce an Alexa skill offering customers the ability to interact with their accounts, all the way back in 2016. Since then, many other credit card companies and financial institutions have followed suit.
• Florida-based Best Innovation Group launched a platform which enables credit unions and retail banks from across the U.S. to offer voice-first banking. Customers can pay their mortgage, transfer between accounts, access account histories, and more using the company’s platform, which works with both Alexa and Google Assistant.

Health Care

• Seniors often suffer from loneliness, isolation, and depression, and smart speakers have demonstrated effectiveness in counteracting this within nursing homes and senior living facilities.
• Triad Health AI has created a voice-first solution to help Parkinson’s patients with their exercise regimens.
• Ambulances in New England have gone voice-first, shedding unnecessary paperwork for emergency techs.

Publishing

• Simon & Schuster released a “Stephen King Library,” an Alexa skill which asks readers a variety of questions before then presenting them with the Stephen King novel they should read next.
• Novel Effect, the first company accepted into the Alexa Accelerator (a joint venture between Amazon and Techstars), created technology which complements in-person live readings with audio soundscapes. In educational contexts, this technology has increased reading comprehension and retention.

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