Donegal accents may be the sexiest in the country, but online assistants aren’t finding them as appealing.
Our local chat is the most difficult accent to understand by online assistants such as iPhone’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant.
The accent up here is so different that two fifths (39%) of Donegal people say they cannot use the digital assistants because their requests get lost in translation.
The new report by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom surveyed more than 1,000 adults about VA software. The findings say that technology may not be as all-accessible as we think, as people in Western counties cannot be understood.
Donegal was the most difficult accent for devices to grasp, followed by Clare and Kerry.
Laois, Carlow and Roscommon were the top three best-spoken counties, with residents saying they are rarely misunderstood by their digital assistants.
Paul Connell, CEO of Pure Telecom said the findings could be related to internet connectivity: “As the survey shows, digital assistants are becoming more and more commonplace in our daily lives.
“While Irish people may have issues being understood by their assistant, their always-on availability has driven widespread use for tasks like streaming music and organising calendars.
“Having a smooth and reliable internet connection is a must in order to enjoy the full benefits and fast responses of a digital assistant. Our survey showed that 59 per cent of us use three or more internet-connected devices on a daily basis, highlighting our increasing reliance on fast broadband speeds.”
At least our accent is enjoyed by everyone else!