Voice assistants, a growing form of conversational artificial intelligence, are increasingly present in devices like smartphones, smartwatches, and TVs. As their use expands, understanding how people feel about the technology becomes crucial. This study examines the trust and perceptions of frequent and infrequent users toward voice assistants, focusing on changes in the assistant’s voice and exploring the relationship between various factors.

The results show that while both groups share similar views, frequent users are more open to concerns raised by infrequent users. However, a clear difference emerges in trust: after using a personalised assistant for a week, frequent users’ trust grows, while infrequent users’ trust decreases. Perception follows a similar pattern, with frequent users developing a more positive view and infrequent users a more negative one.

Trust and perception are positively correlated, indicating that users who view the assistant positively tend to trust it more. Additionally, there is a strong relationship between trust and speech-system usability, with accuracy and likeability being the most important factors for building trust in voice assistants.