While social behaviors increase trust, experts and privacy advocates often highlight the practical risks of smart speakers:

: Participants' perceptions changed significantly when the "wake word" was switched from a personified name ("Hey Alexa") to a brand name ("Hey Amazon"). “Hey, Alexa! Are you trustworthy?

: Devices are always active in a low-power state to detect wake words, though they do not continuously record everything. While social behaviors increase trust, experts and privacy

The research highlights that the more an AI assistant—like Amazon’s Alexa or social robots like Jibo—exhibits , the more likely users are to perceive it as competent and emotionally engaging. Key insights from the MIT study include: Key insights from the MIT study include: :

: Devices with high social abilities actually encouraged families to interact more with each other —leading to more laughing and side conversations during use.

: False triggers can lead to recordings being stored without the user's explicit intent. Managing Trust and Security “Hey, Alexa! Are you trustworthy?” | MIT News