> I see so many of them in homes of people who are in the tech industry.

I resisted having one until everyone in my house started turning on their "assistant"s...

I have 4 smartphones in my home, all with assistants running and listening continuously (plus guests' smartphones). It's no longer "it might be listening" but "we told it to listen".

I noticed after a few months of this that I kept forgetting there were devices listening on in the house (and sensing things).

Alexa, partly with its physical presence and partly with its frequent false positives, is an excellent reminder (to you but also to your house guests) that something(s) is listening in on you.

The next best one is Google's AIY Voice Kit where you can so very easily keep the red led button always-on.