The future is now

11 examples of how voice assistants are reshaping the way we communicate

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For millions of people around the world, voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant have become part of daily routines, but they are also quietly changing the way we speak. From how we phrase questions to the words we choose, these digital helpers are introducing subtle changes in everyday language. As our use of these devices increases, the amount of time we spend talking to them will likely increase as well. Here are 12 ways voice assistants are influencing the way we communicate.

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The first and probably most noticeable example of how voice assistants change the way we speak has to do with the shift to more imperative sentences when making requests.

For example, instead of saying, "Can you please set a timer for me?" people now tend to default to concise, direct commands like, "Set a timer for 10 minutes." We use imperative sentences rather than polite or indirect forms.

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Since voice assistants are, essentially, robots that break up commands into simple concepts to process them effectively, we tend to simplify and rephrase the way we speak by using key terms the assistant is more likely to understand.

For example, instead of saying, "Can you put on something jazzy?" people often default to a concise command like, "Play jazz music."

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Another common trait when speaking to machines is that we tend to repeat similar structures, since voice assistants do not handle follow-up context as well as humans do.

For example, someone might say, "What’s the weather today? What’s the weather tomorrow?"

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This is possibly one of the most positive effects on the list. When speaking to a voice assistant, people tend to slow down and articulate more clearly, a habit that sometimes carries over into their regular speech.

For example, someone might deliberately separate words, saying, "Call… Mom," for a clearer enunciation.

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Wake words—those commands used to "wake up" a voice assistant, such as "Hey Siri" or "Alexa"—are increasingly entering casual conversation and humor.

For example, people might jokingly say, "Okay Google, make me a sandwich," to someone, or, "Hey Siri, can you take the dog out for a walk?"

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Another notable language shift is the tendency to use more formal, literal phrasing when speaking to machines, a habit that sometimes carries over into everyday conversation.

For example, someone might say, "Give me the details," instead of the slangier, "Gimme the deets," when interacting with a voice assistant.

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Even though artificial intelligence is making machine speech more natural, voice assistants do not always accurately interpret the exact meaning of our commands. As a result, people tend to adopt more mechanical, concise speech patterns to communicate more efficiently with these devices.

For example, someone might say, "Add milk to the shopping list," instead of a longer phrasing like, "Can you remind me to buy milk later?"

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Voice assistants typically use a neutral tone, without regional accents. As a result, people with strong accents or regional dialects may adjust their speech toward more "standard" English to be understood.

This can involve modifying pronunciation or vocabulary—for example, saying "elevator" instead of "lift" in certain regions.

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In line with some of the previous situations, the simplification of commands encourages the removal of hedges and conversational words in favor of more precise, direct questions.

For example, instead of saying, "Do you know how tall Mount Everest is?" someone might simply ask, "How tall is Mount Everest?"

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People have learned to anticipate how machines interpret language and adjust in real time, demonstrating a growing linguistic adaptability fostered by our interactions with voice assistants.

For example, someone might start by saying, "Call Sam," but then change it to, "Call Samantha, mobile," when they realize the assistant may not understand the initial command.

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While casual conversations with humans often rely on pronouns and shared context, voice assistants require more explicit information. Users tend to over-specify to compensate for the assistant’s limited contextual memory.

For example, someone might say, "Send message to John: I’ll be late," instead of the more natural, "Tell him I’m running late."

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Do You Remember The Catchy Taglines Of These 10 Unforgettable Movies?

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Allow us to take you on a trip to the past, to a bygone era before the dawn of streaming services and on-demand content. Going to the movies wasn’t limited to just paying a ticket and watching a particular film: Back in the day, seeing the posters on the walls of the lobby and getting psyched about upcoming releases was also very much part of the experience of going to your local movie theater.

While today we might play that exciting movie trailer on an endless loop on YouTube, advertisement agencies always relied on drawing audiences through catchy and flashy campaigns. And an integral part of these strategies was sometimes what made a movie either a hit or a failure: an exciting tagline. We have gathered the phrases that helped transform the ten films in this list into the iconic pieces of pop culture we now hold sacred.

Image: Mark Harkin

Ridley Scott’s 1979 film redefined the concept of space for audiences around the world. We stopped seeing the outer limits of our galaxy as "the Final Frontier" to be explored, and we now learned to fear that cold vacuum of endless silence.

Part of that dread definitively came from the movie’s legendary tagline. The poster showed a glowing alien egg over a pitch-black background, and unveiled a phrase that still makes us feel uneasy: "In space, no one can hear you scream."

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Whenever someone mentions Martin Scorsese’s cult neo-noir, Robert DeNiro’s iconic "You talkin’ to me?" line usually comes to mind. And while this phrase is certainly legendary, Taxi Driver had a less-know tagline that also perfectly captures the essence of the film.

The 1976 original poster shows DeNiro’s character of Travis Bickle standing in the middle of a deserted New York City sidewalk, while the tagline reads: "On every street in every city in this country, there’s a nobody who dreams of being a somebody."

Image: Erik Mclean

We can guarantee that this tagline has been ringing in your head ever since you read the name Ghostbusters on this list. You might even be humming this movie’s unforgettable theme track: After all, Ghostbuster’s iconic "Who ya gonna call?" tagline is on the centerstage of Ray Parker Jr.’s song.

What’s interesting is that, while this tagline closed the film’s trailer, it is curiously absent from the original 1984 poster, being instead replaced with a much more generic: "They are here to save the world." Nevertheless, "Who ya gonna call?" became an integral part of the Ghostbuster’s mythos, and is still constantly quoted almost 40 years after the film’s release.

Image: Krists Luhaers

Leslie Nielsen’s 1988 "The Naked Gun" is not only remembered as a hilarious satire of police movies but also as a groundbreaking comedy film that paved the way for future parodies. The movie perfectly mixes slapstick gags with an amazing self-awareness of the ridiculousness the crime genre has to offer.

Appropriately, the movie’s tagline mocked the film industry's tired, old tropes and cliches: "If you only see one movie this year... you need to get out more often."

Image: Alexander Shatov

The most recent movie on this list, David Fincher’s 2010 "The Social Network" delved deeply into the humble (and tumultuous) early years of Facebook. This biographical drama examines Mark Zuckerberg’s founding of the social media site from his Harvard dorm room and his legal battle with friend and co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

The movie’s tagline perfectly summarizes these internal struggles into a single line: "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies." Actor Jessee Eisenberg's iconic portrayal of Zuckerberg was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

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Much like "Alien", the 1977 "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" portrayed UFO encounters in a new, more unnerving light. Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction drama chronicles the life of an Indiana electrician who sees his life change after an otherworldly encounter.

The film’s poster shows a dark, deserted highway lit by the blue light emanating from an undisclosed energy sphere half hidden behind the horizon. The movie’s tagline is located in the middle of the frame, a short but extremely effective reminder of the uneasiness this movie brings: "We are not alone."

Image: Jin Yeong Kim

David Cronenberg’s remake of the 1958 science fiction horror film "The Fly" was both an homage and a sharp turn from the original: Jeff Goldblum’s spine-chilling fly hybrid is still regarded as one of the most terrifying monsters in film history.

In that regard, the movie’s tagline highlights the primal fear that the monster produces in a simple but unnerving phrase: "Be afraid. Be very afraid." Right next to the tagline, The poster shows the now-iconic "telepod" lit by a blinding light, from which only a human hand and insect leg can be seen.

Image: Brian McGowan

This movie is the only one in this list that features a real-life quote as its tagline. "Houston, we have a problem", the now-iconic distress call spoken by astronaut Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) offered audiences a direct connection to the real Apollo 13 mission.

Ron Howard’s 1995 drama echoed through the American public and is now considered one of the best films of all time. In 2023, it was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress.

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We decided to include two amazing taglines in this entry because we couldn’t possibly decide between them. The first Jaws film had an unforgettable poster that showed Bruce the shark (yeah, his name is Bruce) looming underwater, complemented by the now-legendary tagline: "You’ll never go in the water again!"

By the time the second Jaws film was released, the first film had already cemented itself as a smashing hit. Logically, the executives behind the sequel decided to directly reference its predecessor: The movie’s tagline cleverly states: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Image: Chan Chai Kee

We end this list with another classic Spielberg film. The first Jurassic Park film took audiences on a thrilling, unprecedented ride, revered to this day as a timeless masterpiece.

In 1993, the advertising campaign for the movie both made groundbreaking promises and played with people's expectations. The movie posters show the classic Jurassic Park logo over a black background, alongside the enigmatic tagline "An adventure 65 million years in the making."