Siri, I can’t talk to you now, we’ll have to do it in private …

TALKING to your virtual assistant in public is a modern-day social faux pas, research suggests, as three in four users will only use them in the privacy of their own home or in the car.

Despite the rising popularity of technology such as Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa and Dot devices, Britons are still uncomfortable with using voice control in public, with only 25 per cent saying they would be happy to use commands anywhere other than their home or their car. More than half (56 per cent) say they would be happy to use voice commands to control devices in their home, with 47 per cent happy to do so in their car, the research by consumer analyst Mintel found.

Smartphones have reached their highest ownership levels with 83 per cent of British consumers now in possession of one. Sales of Amazon’s Alexa and Dot personal assistants have also soared, with Morgan Stanley analysts estimating more than 300,000 sales in the UK in the second half of 2015 alone.