Voice-activated tech presents exciting opportunities for healthcare organizations and America’s aging nation.
If healthcare is an important issue, so is artificial intelligence (AI) and voice-activated tech.
Why? If one gets better, the other will too.
Technologies such as chatbots, for example, have the potential to improve the healthcare system as a whole and evolve the way brands, providers and patients interact with one another, but voice technology maybe the final app to bring AI home.
Companies like Amazon were the first to explore it with devices like Amazon Echo, which were initially sold as smart speakers — a novel way to listen to music while connecting to a bit of additional information.
But the technology only kept on evolving, now, healthcare system are convinced voice assistants are the future for the industry. They are already largely used in the U.S., as these innovations can provide awareness about health conditions or a better patient-provider communication.
This new form a communication has revealed a real and rising trend: Seniors are the audiences who really use voice assistants, wether it be to connect with their children and grandchildren, or to find information of their choice, as an eMarketer forecast shows that by the end of 2018, 7.0 million people over the age of 65 in the U.S. will use voice assistants at least once a month, a 29.9% increase over 2017—which is noteworthy growth, considering these consumers didn’t grow up with the technology.
A technology fit for the aging nation
Heidi Culbertson, CEO of Marvee—a tech company that builds Alexa skills for aging adults— spoke to eMarketer about why voice assistants work in the senior community and what is their real potential inside the healthcare industry despite current restrictions.
“Voice is the easiest interface for older people. Unless there are speech issues, everyone can talk. This audience is heavily spending on these technologies just to learn how to connect to their families. There are currently 49.2 million people over the age of 65 in the U.S., and we are on course to becoming an even more aging country, there is a ton of opportunity.”
Voice control technologies seem to represent the next phase in the evolution of human-machine interaction. For now, phrases like “Hey, Siri,” “Hey, Alexa” and “OK, Google” are quickly becoming part of our everyday lexicon, with the U.S. leading with the largest market, followed by China and South Korea.
The future of this specific technology is beyond exciting, some even predict that voice technology will soon leave smart speakers behind as voice assistants are keen to infiltrate a wide array of consumer devices.
Click here to read how voice-tech is quickly changing everyday work.
