{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T08:13:12Z","timestamp":1781079192509,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":68,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,22]],"date-time":"2020-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1590105600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001774","name":"university of sydney","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001774","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Smart voice assistants have become popular thanks largely to their default naturalistic female voices and helpful personae. In this article, we trace changes in robot voices in popular culture and explain how this history influenced the voice design of smart voice assistants. Our research draws on cultural analysis of Hollywood and international films, television and literature, and observations from our personal experiences with voice assistants. We argue that designers of devices like the Google Home and Amazon Echo inherited a cultural imaginary of alien and dangerous robots with artificial voices and personalities. Manufacturers leveraged techniques of modality, personae and invocation and pre-existing social connotations of the voice to create positive associations of these devices in the home. We conclude by arguing that smart voice assistants are new media innovations prepared for consumers through pre-domestication and represent an emerging regime of power and influence based on technologised voice interaction.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444820923679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,22]],"date-time":"2020-05-22T06:25:35Z","timestamp":1590128735000},"page":"1971-1988","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":54,"title":["Preparing for smart voice assistants: Cultural histories and media innovations"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2376-2089","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Justine","family":"Humphry","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Sydney, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9377-4512","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chris","family":"Chesher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Sydney, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444820923679","volume-title":"How to Do Things with Words","author":"Austin JL","year":"1962"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444820923679","first-page":"95","author":"Bergen H","year":"2016","journal-title":"Word and Text VI"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Bishop A (2014) Android problems: the representation of robots in cinema. The Artifice. Available at: https:\/\/the-artifice.com\/representation-robots-cinema\/ (accessed 29 July 2019)."},{"key":"bibr4-1461444820923679","first-page":"18","volume-title":"Language and Identities","author":"Bucholtz M","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr5-1461444820923679","volume-title":"R.U.R. (Rossum\u2019s Universal Robots): A Play in Three Acts and an Epilogue","author":"\u010capek K","year":"1928"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Charlton C (2017) Google Home Mini caught constantly spying in owner\u2019s bathroom. Gearbrain, 11 October. Available at: https:\/\/www.gearbrain.com\/google-home-mini-recorded-everything-2495445625.html (accessed 31 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr7-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen X, Mi J, Jia M, et al. (2019, October) Chat with smart conversational agents: how to evaluate chat experience in smart home. In: Proceedings of the MobileHCI\u201919: 21st international conference on human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services, Taipei, 1\u20134 October, pp. 1\u20136. ACM. Available at: https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1145\/3338286.3344408 (accessed 7 April 2020).","DOI":"10.1145\/3338286.3344408"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Computers as invocational media","author":"Chesher C","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Australia and New Zealand communications association conference","author":"Chesher C","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Chokshi N (2018) Amazon knows why Alexa was laughing at its customers. New York Times Online. Available at: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/08\/business\/alexa-laugh-amazon-echo.html (accessed 31 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr11-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cohen P, Cheye A, Horvitz E, et al. (2016) On the future of digital assistants. CHI\u201916 Extended Abstracts, 7\u201312 May, San Jose, CA. Available at: http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1145\/2851581.2886425","DOI":"10.1145\/2851581.2886425"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Now You\u2019re Talking: Human Conversation from the Neanderthals to Artificial Intelligence","author":"Cox TJ","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Anatomy of an AI system","author":"Crawford K","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444820923679","volume-title":"The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis","author":"Creed B","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Cutsinger and Akersh (2018) How building for voice differs from building for screen. Alexa.design\/webmobiletovoice. Amazon Alexa. Available at: https:\/\/register.gotowebinar.com\/recording\/3829485040839408386 (accessed 1 October 2018)."},{"key":"bibr16-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4842-4125-7"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444820923679","first-page":"53","volume-title":"Research Methods for Cultural Studies","author":"Davis A","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Eschner K (2017) Meet Pedro the \u2018Voder\u2019, the first electronic machine to talk. Available at: https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/meet-pedro-voder-first-electronic-machine-talk-180963516\/#ilZpa2Jk4FkuplmZ.99 (accessed 1 October 2018)."},{"key":"bibr19-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Fowler GA (2019) Alexa has been eavesdropping on you the whole time. The Washington Post, 6 May. Available at: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2019\/05\/06\/alexa-has-been-eavesdropping-you-this-whole-time\/"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Google (2018) Conversation Design. Available at: https:\/\/developers.google.com\/assistant\/actions\/design"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Google (2019) Create a persona. Conversation Design. Available at: https:\/\/designguidelines.withgoogle.com\/conversation\/conversation-design-process\/create-a-persona.html"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Goulden M (2019) \u2018Delete the family\u2019: platform families and the colonisation of the smart home. Information, Communication and Society. Available at: https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/1369118X.2019.1668454 (accessed 23 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr23-1461444820923679","first-page":"88","volume-title":"Chaosmosis: An Ethico-Aesthetic Paradigm","author":"Guattari F","year":"1992"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Chaosmosis: An Ethico-Aesthetic Paradigm","author":"Guattari F","year":"1995"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444820923679","first-page":"53","volume":"8","author":"Hetrigck J","year":"2014","journal-title":"Footprint"},{"issue":"1","key":"bibr26-1461444820923679","first-page":"e5","volume":"10","author":"Hui JY","year":"2017","journal-title":"Asian Journal of Public Affairs"},{"key":"bibr27-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/book5250"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Kalish J (2018) Why Amazon\u2019s Alexa is \u2018life changing\u2019 for the blind. PC. Available at: https:\/\/au.pcmag.com\/news\/51189\/why-amazons-alexa-is-life-changing-for-the-blind (accessed 21 July 2019)."},{"key":"bibr29-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/9780520947351"},{"key":"bibr30-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Kim E (2018) Amazon Echo secretly recorded a family\u2019s conversation and sent it to a random person on their contact list. CNBC. Available at: https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/05\/24\/amazon-echo-recorded-conversation-sent-to-random-person-report.html (accessed 31 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr31-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Kinsella B (2018) Smart speakers to reach 100 million installed base worldwide in 2018, Google to Catch Amazon by 2022. Voicebot.ai. Available at: https:\/\/voicebot.ai\/2018\/07\/10\/smart-speakers-to-reach-100-million-installed-base-worldwide-in-2018-google-to-catch-amazon-by-2022\/ (accessed 1 October 2018)."},{"key":"bibr32-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Kleinman A (2017) Meet the woman who says she\u2019s the voice of Siri. The Huffington Post. Available at: https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com.au\/entry\/voice-siri_n_4043134 (accessed 1 May 2019)."},{"key":"bibr33-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5749\/minnesota\/9780816676248.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr34-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2010.5598620"},{"key":"bibr35-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7591\/9781501723087"},{"key":"bibr36-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Liao S (2018) Amazon has a fix for Alexa\u2019s creepy laughs. Circuit Breaker, 7 May. Available at: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/circuitbreaker\/2018\/3\/7\/17092334\/amazon-alexa-devices-strange-laughter (accessed 16 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr37-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Electronic Synthesis of Speech","author":"Linngard R","year":"1985"},{"key":"bibr38-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Loeb W (2018) Amazon is the biggest investor in the future, spends $22.6 billion on R&D. Forbes. Available at: https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/walterloeb\/2018\/11\/01\/amazon-is-biggest-investor-for-the-future\/#cf811411f1db (accessed 14 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr39-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Mortensen D (2019) How to design voice user interfaces. Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https:\/\/www.interaction-design.org\/literature\/article\/how-to-design-voice-user-interfaces (accessed 25 July 2019)."},{"key":"bibr40-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Wired for Speech: How Voice Activates and Advances the Human-Computer Interface","author":"Nass C","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr41-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Digital News Report","author":"Newman N","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr42-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4471-4084-9_6"},{"key":"bibr43-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics","author":"Nye JS","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr44-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word","author":"Ong W","year":"2002"},{"key":"bibr45-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Phan T (2017) The materiality of the digital and the gendered voice of Siri. Transformations, 29 Issue. Available at: http:\/\/www.transformationsjournal.org (accessed 1 October 2018)."},{"key":"bibr46-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.28968\/cftt.v5i1.29586"},{"key":"bibr47-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9072.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr48-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Roemmele B (2016) The Voder: 1939, the worlds first electronic voice synthesizer. Available at: https:\/\/youtu.be\/TsdOej_nC1M (accessed 23 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr49-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Roettgers J (2019) How Google found its voice. Variety, 18 September. Available at: https:\/\/variety.com\/2019\/digital\/features\/google-assistant-name-personality-voice-technology-design-1203340223\/ (accessed October 23 2019)."},{"key":"bibr50-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Russakovskii A (2017) Google is permanently nerfing all Home Minis because mine spied on everything I said 24\/7 [Update x2] Android police. Available at: https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/2017\/10\/10\/google-nerfing-home-minis-mine-spied-everything-said-247\/ (accessed 16 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr51-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/2078997"},{"key":"bibr52-1461444820923679","first-page":"454","volume-title":"Proceedings of the digital humanities in the Nordic countries 3rd conference","volume":"2084","author":"Saariketo M","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr53-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/07350199209388971"},{"key":"bibr54-1461444820923679","volume-title":"The New Soundscape: A Handbook for the Modern Music Teacher","author":"Schafer RM","year":"1969"},{"key":"bibr55-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139173438"},{"key":"bibr56-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198289418.003.0003","volume-title":"Communication by Design: The Politics of Communication Technologies","author":"Silverstone R","year":"1996"},{"key":"bibr57-1461444820923679","first-page":"44","volume-title":"Communication by Design: The Politics of Information and Communication Technologies","author":"Silverstone R","year":"1998"},{"key":"bibr58-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3828\/msmi.2.2.14"},{"key":"bibr59-1461444820923679","first-page":"129","volume-title":"Technospaces: Inside the New Media","author":"Sofoulis Z","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr60-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Statista Research Department (2020) Number of digital voice assistants in use worldwide from 2019 to 2023 (in billions)* Statista (website). Available at: https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/973815\/worldwide-digital-voice-assistant-in-use\/ (accessed 9 November 2019)."},{"key":"bibr61-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1329878X17737661"},{"key":"bibr62-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14797580903481306"},{"key":"bibr63-1461444820923679","unstructured":"Van den Oord A, Dieleman S (2016) WaveNet: a generative model for raw audio. Available at: https:\/\/deepmind.com\/blog\/article\/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio (accessed 16 October 2019)."},{"key":"bibr64-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-349-27700-1"},{"key":"bibr65-1461444820923679","volume-title":"\u2018I\u2019d Blush If I Could\u2019. Closing Gender Divides in Digital Skills through Education","author":"West M","year":"2019"},{"key":"bibr66-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15295036.2018.1488082"},{"key":"bibr67-1461444820923679","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444806061951"},{"key":"bibr68-1461444820923679","volume-title":"Surveillance Capitalism","author":"Zuboff S","year":"2018"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444820923679","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1461444820923679","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444820923679","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T03:50:09Z","timestamp":1777693809000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1461444820923679"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,22]]},"references-count":68,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1461444820923679"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444820923679","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,22]]}}}