Apr 02, 2024 13:00:00

Many children think AI such as Alexa and Siri may have human-like minds

Children today are exposed to AI assistants such as Alexa and Siri from an early age, and sometimes even talk to them as if they were human acquaintances. A new study has found that children overestimate the intelligence of AI, with many believing that AI may have human-like emotions and thinking abilities.

Alexa doesn't have that many feelings: Children's understanding of AI through interactions with smart speakers in their homes - ScienceDirect

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X23000553

Children may overestimate smart speakers' abilities, study finds
https://edinburghuni-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/children-may-overestimate-smart-speakers-abilities-study-finds

Many kids are unsure if Alexa and Siri have feelings or think like people, study finds | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/health/psychology/many-kids-are-unsure-if-alexa-and-siri-have-feelings-or-think-like-people-study-finds

Voice-based AI assistants such as Alexa and Siri are ubiquitous in many homes, and children interact with these AI assistants on a daily basis. Therefore, a research team at the University of Edinburgh in the UK conducted a survey of 166 children aged 6 to 11 living in Scotland , asking them what they thought about ``Alexa'' and ``smart speakers.''

Of the children surveyed, 93% said they had a smart speaker at home. Children used the devices to listen to music, ask questions, search for information, ask for help with homework, and listen to jokes and stories.

As a result of the survey, it was found that although these children are familiar with AI assistants, a large percentage believe that AI has human-like emotions and decision-making abilities. Just under one-third of children thought that ``smart speakers can think for themselves to some extent,'' and 40% said that smart speakers might be able to think for themselves. Children generally believed that AI such as Alexa was smarter than them and that they should not be disrespectful to the device.

On the other hand, children did not think of smart speakers as humans; approximately 80% correctly recognized smart speakers as 'AI' and 15% answered that they were 'objects'. Still, a large percentage believe that ``Even if Alexa breaks, you shouldn't throw away your device.'' Approximately 68% of 8-year-olds and 37% of 11-year-olds believe that a broken AI-equipped device should be thrown away. I said no.

'AI is already part of most children's lives and will play an increasingly important role in the future,' said study co-author Professor

Judy Robertson, a computer scientist at the University of Edinburgh. are often designed to appear more human and intelligent than they actually are, which can be very confusing to children. There are two things that technology designers need to be careful about: avoid misleading children into believing that AI products are human-like entities.'