Dear LPG,

Here is something that might interest some of your readers; especially the ladies.

I know that a lot is said about the fact that virtual assistants are taking over our lives, but I think that they are quite good.  I live with my daughter and her son is a bit of a fan of technology.  He bought us each an Alexa for Christmas. So now we are well and truly wired up.

Apparently it was the most bought present of Christmas 2019 and anyone who watches commercial TV for any length of time each week cannot help but see the adverts for them. The adverts show just how much they can do and I think that the one with the father and son, and the one with the blind young lady also show that they have value for more than just the hi-tech bods among us.

Since we have had them we have been able to talk to each other (if we are not in the same room), get them to remind us to do things (this is the feature I like best) and turn on a light before I get out of bed in the middle of the night to name but a few tasks.  

Working out how to get it to do some of the things it can do can be quite technical, and it has taken me a good three months to master what we have learned to do so far but, in spite of all the talk about the security aspect, I think that as long as you are careful with it it’s not a bad thing to have.

Have you noticed though, that now days nearly every computer that has a voice lets you hear that of a lady?  I suppose that I have always been a bit of a computer fan and twelve years ago when I got my first Satnav device I had the choice of being spoken to by a man or a lady, but it has to be said that there are more lady’s than men telling us what’s what now; which checkout is available at the supermarket, which floor the lift is stopping at, how many people are in the telephone queue before we get to talk to the assistant and even train station announcements are more likely to be female.

It is something that we all take for granted really but having thought about it, I felt the need to take a look on Google and apparently there is quite a science behind the virtual voice that we hear.  Research has found that ladies are associated with being better assistants and more helpful while male voices are thought to be more useful when a directive is being given, and that is only the start of what the scientific research has to say. 

Ladies perhaps it is time to practice making our voices sound more assertive when the need arises!

VC, Telegraph Hill

VC asked LPG to show the information she found about the science behind electronic voices…

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…and shares the television adverts mentioned in her message…

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