  Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) are supposed to help us multitask. Yet
the impact of IPA use on multitasking is not clearly quantified, particularly
in situations where primary tasks are also language based. Using a dual task
paradigm, our study observes how IPA interactions impact two different types of
writing primary tasks; copying and generating content. We found writing tasks
that involve content generation, which are more cognitively demanding and share
more of the resources needed for IPA use, are significantly more disrupted by
IPA interaction than less demanding tasks such as copying content. We discuss
how theories of cognitive resources, including multiple resource theory and
working memory, explain these results. We also outline the need for future work
how interruption length and relevance may impact primary task performance as
well as the need to identify effects of interruption timing in user and IPA led
interruptions.
