Owning a smart speaker is one thing—but how are these devices used once the novelty wears off? New research, published in the Journal of Children and Media, aimed to start tackling this question. Led by Rebecca Wald (together with Theo Araujo and Annemarie van Oosten), we conducted a survey of 370 Dutch parents with young children who have a smart speaker in the home. We looked at smart speaker use across three key dimensions:
- How often are they used?
- For what purposes (e.g., entertainment, assistance, information)?
- By whom—the parent, the child, or both together?
Finding 1: Six Ways Families Use Smart Speakers
Our study identified six distinct patterns of smart speaker use, showing us once again that “one-size-fits-all” doesn’t apply when it comes to family tech:
- Infrequent/Light Users (31%): These families rarely use their smart speakers. When they do, it’s mostly for simple assistance or entertainment—and primarily by parents.
- Monthly All-round Users (21%): These families use their device a few times a month, across different purposes and by both parents and children. They’re engaged, but not reliant.
- Weekly All-round Users (20%): A step up in frequency, these families integrate smart speaker use into weekly routines across all functions and users—parents, children, and co-use.
- Parental Assistance Users (12%): Here, the speaker is a parent’s tool—used often and mainly for tasks like setting timers, checking the weather, or managing the household.
- Family Entertainment Users (8%): Think music, jokes, and stories. These families primarily use their smart speaker for shared entertainment—across parents, children, and co-use.
- Power All-round Users (8%): The most active group—using their smart speaker daily, across all use-forms and functions. These families are fully integrated with the technology.
Finding 2: The AI News Parents See Shapes How They Use Smart Speakers at Home
One of the most interesting findings of this study is the role of news media narratives about AI. Parents don’t make tech decisions in a vacuum. Their smart speaker habits are related to how AI is framed in the media: Parents who perceived news coverage to focus on the personal impact of AI (e.g., stories about convenience, connection, or daily life) were more likely to be frequent, wide-ranging users. Those who perceived more coverage about AI’s societal risks (e.g., ethical, political, or economic concerns) were less likely to use the speaker regularly. This suggests that the media environment is not just a backdrop—it likely plays a shaping role how families engage with emerging technologies at home.
Finding 3: Trust Matters Most
We also found that trust in technology—not tech savviness—was a key predictor of smart speaker use. Parents with higher tech trust were more likely to use the device broadly, while internet literacy and privacy concerns had little relationship with usage. This raises important questions about the gap between what parents feel about AI technologies and what they do with them—and whether concerns are being acted on, ignored, or simply overridden by convenience.
Why This Study Matters
As voice assistants become embedded in daily routines of children’s lives, it’s vital to understand how and why families use them. Whether you’re a designer, policymaker, educator, or parent, these insights help illuminate the evolving relationship between families and technology—and the unique role parents play in shaping that journey.
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