Alexa and Siri: how's it hangin'?

What’s next for smart speakers? Given that sales have flattened in most early-adopter countries (normal, people don’t eat radios), and Google, Amazon are massively scaling back new investment, what now for these devices?

There are things we know: that they essentially take over the duties of traditional tabletop radios (and thus could actually have been a good thing for radio) and prepare audiences for a more connected future. The same functionality is available on both mobiles and in connected cars, although voice control is still very much underused in cars. The assistants that once amazed us now look a bit dumb in the face of ChatGPT.

So it might still be relevant to ask EBU radio music organizations – are you still investing here? What are audiences doing on smart speakers? Is there anything new we should be collectively doing?

In partnership with EBU Technology & Innovation