Mass robotics: How do people communicate with, use, and feel about Alexa? A cross-cultural, user perspective

For the first time, voice-based assistants (VBAs) allow studying the mass consumption of a robotic product in a ‘natural’ environment. The present paper investigates users’ perspectives concerning Alexa, informed by the scholarly literature on the diffusion and appropriation of digital media, VBAs, and social robots, in general, in the domestic sphere. Besides CASA, a paradigm widely applied in robotics, we draw on theories on users and theories on the use of users. We explored individuals’ use of Alexa in two countries—the US and Italy— through an online survey. Results indicated that: (1) Alexa’s use follows the same modalities of the previous digital media; (2) Alexa’s use is in an early phase of domestication, and thus, the role of users in reshaping this technological artifact is still limited; and (3) updates to the CASA paradigm are needed.