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Business Insider

There are over 80,000 videos on YouTube dedicated to showing people the process of assembling furniture from Ikea, and those aren't even the funny ones.

The Swedish retailer is notoriously known for its cost-effective products that appeal to Millennials and people living on tight budgets alike, as well as the grueling task of figuring out how to put the furniture together that always accompanies a purchase. As much as the retailer's products are chic and economical, they're also admittedly kind of a pain. With their latest business decision, the company hopes to combat this issue.

Last month, Ikea announced that they would be purchasing the startup company TaskRabbit and hopes that by the time the merger is complete, Ikea customers would directly be able to hire "Taskers" when they purchase their furniture.

IKEA

The deal is one of mutual benefits for both companies.In a statement released by the company, President and CEO of IKEA Group, Jesper Brodin said, "We will be able to learn from TaskRabbit's digital expertise, while also providing IKEA customers additional ways to access flexible and affordable service solutions to meet the needs of today's customer." Stacey Brown-Philpot, CEO of TaskRabbit agreed, saying "With IKEA Group ownership, TaskRabbit could realize even greater opportunities; increasing earning potential of Taskers and connecting consumers to a wide range of affordable services."

TaskRabbit began 2008 as "an innovative sharing-economy on-demand platform," where users are connected with "Taskers" to help them complete a wide array of projects, from home improvement to housekeeping to yes, moving and putting together your furniture, which is a highly-demanded task in New York City. The service was grossed around $50 million since its inception.

TaskRabbit services have already been implemented in Ikea branches in the United Kingdom, where customers are able to book the services at fixed prices in locations surrounding the London area. The hope is that the success of this program will play out similarly when it comes stateside.

The deal, which was made at an amount left undisclosed by the companies, was done in hopes of Ikea expanding its outreach to online consumers (a market Amazon currently dominates), as well as an attempt to better utilize the "gig-economy" that is quite popular among the top purchasers of Ikea's products.

However, there are some downfalls in signing up with the service, such as the requirement that the furniture must be anchored to the wall as Ikea suggests in its retail package. If this is not done, the Tasker will not complete the assembly. The safety reasons behind the decision are quite logical after the scandals of dressers falling over and injuring people (particularly children), but it's fairly impractical to expect customers likely living in rented units to create more damage to their homes simply to purchase what they originally thought was cost effective furniture.

Task Rabbit

It will have to be seen whether or not the pros of having someone assemble your furniture make it a better buy than investing in a sturdier piece. At the very least, it's something worth experimenting with when the service is fully rolled out in shops throughout the end of the year.

Perhaps the next time you head to Ikea for a home purchase, the only thing you'll have to stress out about is how many meatballs you should order.

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In this fast-paced, tech-driven world that seems to get more and more advanced while we blink our eyes, AI – Artificial Intelligence is one area where we are seeing new advancements and major growth quickly and ever so impressively. Hands-free, super-smart, and carefully connected, AI voice assistants are all the rage, prompting consumers from all walks of life to forgo their former modes of communication, information gathering, and control over their multiple high-tech gadgets, devices, and gizmos. And the potential the future holds for these nifty voice assistants is exponential.

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Most folks who are even just the slightest bit tech-savvy are well-aware of popular voice assistants such asAmazon's Alexaand Apple's Siri, and many of those people are regular users of the modern AI-based technology. Essentially, as per Business Insider, "Voice assistants are software programs that respond to voice commands in order to perform a range of tasks." The sophistication put in by the developers equal simplicity for the user.

The fun and freedom associated with using these voice-activated assistants give users the flexibility to multi-task, gain knowledge, take control over their homes, or simply call a loved one, among thousands of other uses. The widespread capabilities of such devices are always expanding, and so is the number of tech-hungry consumers who are in awe of their many modern marvels. Are you one of them? If not, you are likely to jump on the bandwagon soon.

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According to Business Insider, "65% of U.S. smartphone owners were employing voice assistants in 2015, up significantly from 30% just two years prior. Consumers are also eagerly adopting speaker-based voice assistants, with shipments of Google Home and Amazon Echo speakers expected to climb more than threefold to 24.5 million in 2017." With such a great number of people using voice assistants presently and the many improvements that are sure to come in the near future, these already-staggering statistics are sure to continue to see impressive and steady growth.

Naturally, every invention has its strengths and weaknesses, plusses and minuses, and Business Insider notes that along with the innovation of something life-altering comes room for improvement. There are certain "technological shortcomings preventing voice assistants from hitting their true potential," notes Business Insider.

But as they exist today, most would argue that AI voice assistants are pretty darn amazing. And if the companies that create and build them realize and improve upon these said "shortcomings," the newer versions will be sure to give users even more bang for their buck with technological capabilities beyond our wildest imaginations.

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For more information on voice assistants and to read "The Voice Assistant Landscape Report" from Business Insider's BI Intelligence, click here. Or, ask your voice assistant to download it for you!

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