**7. Virtual assistants – Financial importance**

#### **7.1 For persons**

Digital experiences facilitated by VAs are one of the most encouraging end-user trends in recent years. Specialists predict that digital practices would gain a prestige equivalent to 'real' ones, if not more sought-after and valued [22]. The development is supported by frequent users and a significant increase in the number of virtual digital assistant users worldwide. The number of people who use digital VAs regularly was predicted to be approximately 1 billion in mid-2017 [23]. Furthermore, virtual digital assistant technology is no longer limited to smartphone apps but is also found in many different industries [24]. There will be a 34.9 percent CAGR for speech recognition technology from 2016 to 2024, surpassing a global market size of US\$7.5 billion by 2024 [25] as a result of considerable R&D expenditures of enterprises across all sectors and increasing use of mobile devices in speech recognition technology [24].

According to an Ovum estimate, by 2021, the "native digital assistant installed base" will outnumber the global population, with 7.5 billion active speech AI-capable devices [25]. "Google Assistant would dominate the speech AI–capable device market with 23.3 percent market share by that time," according to Ovum, "followed by Samsung's Bixby (14.5 percent), Apple's Siri (13.1 percent), Amazon's Alexa (3.9 percent), and Microsoft's Cortana (2.3 percent)" [25].

Businesses in North America (such as Nuance Communications and IBM) are projected to dominate the sector over the next few years due to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and enterprise mobility business strategies. Furthermore, the growing demand for smartphone-assisted platforms will likely propel IVA's further growth in North America. On the other hand, even though it is smaller than the North American market [24], the intelligent VA sector in the Asia-Pacific area is predicted to expand at a 40 percent annual growth rate (above the world average) between 2016 and 2024, with its primary players located in India and China.

#### **7.2 For companies**

VAs should not be viewed solely as a tool for individuals, as they may have genuine economic value for businesses. A virtual assistant, for example, can serve as an always-available aide with encyclopedia knowledge. Furthermore, it can organize meetings, checking inventories, and verifying data. VAs, on the other hand, are so significant that their integration into small and medium-sized businesses is frequently a simple first step towards a more worldwide adaption and use of IoT. Small and medium-sized enterprises regard IoT technologies as critical technologies that are difficult, risky, or expensive to employ [26].

#### **8. Virtual assistants: Protection**

To demonstrate how audio commands can be directly integrated into music or spoken text, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, published a study in May 2018. The publication showed that VAs could perform specified actions without the user's knowledge. The researchers altered audio files to eliminate the sound patterns that speech recognition algorithms are designed to recognize. Instead, noises were used to direct the system to dial numbers on the phone, launch webpages, or even move money [27]. Since 2016 [27], this has been a possibility, and it impacts Apple, Amazon, and Google devices [28].

Security and privacy concerns with IVAs are not limited to unwanted actions or voice recording. For example, when a person pretends to be someone else, he or she uses malevolent voice commands to gain illegal access to their home or garage, such as unlocking a smart door or shopping items online without their The system may have trouble distinguishing between similar sounds, even though some IVAs have a voice-training feature to prevent imitating. In addition, the system may be fooled into believing that the user is the real owner if a malicious individual has access [29] to an IVA-enabled device.

#### **9. Virtual assistants: A new definition**

From 2020 when the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic, and most people had to work remotely from home, the VA found the new definition. A human VA, also known as a virtual office assistant, is a self-employed person who works remotely from a home office to give clients professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) help [30]. Unless these indirect costs are included in the VA fees, clients are not liable for employee-related taxes and insurance or benefits because VAs are independent contractors rather than employees. They also avoid the logistical nightmare of providing additional office space, equipment, or supplies to a third party. A virtual assistant (VA) is a person who does a specific task for a client. The client pays

#### *Introductory Chapter: Virtual Assistants DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100248*

only for work, that is. VAs typically serve other small companies [31, 32], but they can also assist busy executives.

VAs use the Internet, email, phone-call conferences and online workplaces, as well as fax machines, to communicate and exchange data with each other There is also a growing use of Skype and Zoom, Slack, or Google Voice by virtual assistants (VAs Because the professionals in this field operate on contract, it is believed that they will work together for a long Ten years of office experience is required for executive assistants, office managers/supervisors, secretaries, paralegal assistants, legal secretaries, real estate assistants, and information technology.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services like Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom have made it possible to have a virtual assistant (VA) answer the phone without the end user's knowledge in recent years, and VAs have made their way into many mainstream organizations. With today's technology, many firms may personalize their receptionists without having to pay for an additional receptionist.

A VA is a person or company who works remotely as an independent professional, supplying a wide range of products to businesses and customers. When it comes to the typical secretarial tasks such as website editing, social media marketing, and customer care, and data input and accounting (MYOB and QuickBooks), virtual assistants excel. In the virtual world, the industry has changed tremendously as more people join.

VAs come from various professional backgrounds, but the majority have at least a few years of experience working in the "real" (non-virtual) corporate sector or working online or remotely. The modern world is a place for VAs, where the next generation is increasingly relying on intelligent technology to improve their personal and professional lives.
