„Szia, Alexa!” A hangvezérlés mint új technológia kulturális megalkotása a platform-ökoszisztémában
„Hi Alexa!” The cultural construction of the voice user interface as a new technology in the platform ecosystem

Summary/Abstract: Voice control, or Voice User Interfaces, have been gaining ground in the digital media ecosystem over the last decade. Among the wide variety of software-hardware configurations introduced by many market players, some of the best known are Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Siri. The major platforms typically brand and introduce voice interfaces as ’virtual assistants’ to the market and the users. Voice-controlled virtual assistants can be connected to a variety of digital devices other than computers and smartphones, extending the reach of voice control to many areas of everyday life. In this paper, I critically analyze how this technology is culturally constructed, i.e. what values, meanings and linguistic tropes (e.g. metaphors such as ‘smart’ or ‘assistant’) are associated with Voice User Interfaces in public discourse about the technology. On the other hand, I will explore how this kind of meaning-making fits into the functioning of the platform-dominated digital media ecosystem, how Voice User Interfaces support platform logic aimed at collecting and monetizing as much user data as possible.

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