virtual assistant

American  

[vur-choo-uhl uh-sis-tuhnt] / ˈvɜr tʃu əl əˈsɪs tənt /

noun

1. a person, as a freelance office assistant, who works remotely in an administrative role.

2.  voice assistant.   digital assistant.  Digital Technology. a device or piece of software that can perform basic tasks and answer some questions in response to spoken natural language, often following a command or prompt.

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Etymology

Origin of virtual assistant

First recorded in 2000–05 virtual assistant for def. 1, and in 2010–15 virtual assistant for def. 2

Example Sentences

Apple was reportedly planning to include new features for its virtual assistant in the upcoming iOS 26.4 operating system update in March but is now looking to release them incrementally, according to Bloomberg.

From MarketWatch

According to Bisha, she had originally signed a contract authorising the use of her image until the end of 2025 to represent a virtual assistant on an online government services portal.

From Barron's

Users accused Google Assistant - a virtual assistant present on many Android devices - of recording private conversations after it was inadvertently triggered on their devices.

From BBC

Improvements to a number of Apple services - including a more personalised version of its virtual assistant, Siri - are to be powered with AI provided by Google.

From BBC

In a development that could help its reputation as an artificial-intelligence laggard, Apple reportedly confirmed Monday that it is partnering with Alphabet’s Google to use Gemini for the next generation of its Siri virtual assistant, which is set to launch later this year.

From MarketWatch