Some researchers from the University of Cambridge ensure that voice assistants such as Google, Siri or Alexa could hinder the cognitive development of children who use them. This technology can be used for a myriad of things, such as answering silly or complex questions, knowing what the weather is going to be like, or asking them to set a timer. This seems harmless, but Ananya Arora and Anmol Arora point out that it may not be. Through a publication uploaded to the Archives of Disease in Childhood, the experts detailed the disadvantages that intelligent assistants could pose in their interaction with the smallest of the house . The article highlighted three reasons why they might be concerning: inappropriate responses, impeding social development and hindering learning opportunities.
inappropriate responses
The researchers highlighted a case from 2021 in which a girl asked Alexa to dare her to do something, and AI challenged her to touch a socket with a coin. Though Amazon fixed this flaw of the voice assistant, it is not the first time that this technology fails and gives answers other than those it should give. According to the article by the Cambridge experts, there is no system of advanced functions that can avoid this type of situation if the assistants used with minors. “Hard to enforce strong parental controls on such devices without severely affecting their functionality,” they state.
social development
Normally, the answers that attendees give they do not imitate the way of socializing of a human. Although they can provide more or less company, developing children should interact with other people to prevent them from imitating the machine. According to researchers, an AI cannot scold a child for misbehavior or provide solutions. constructive. “can increase the risk of children over-anthroporifying digital devices“, they point out.
learning opportunities
In this regard, the researchers point to a study in which they concluded that children they were not aware of where the information came from the internet or where your personal data was stored. This means that the little ones are unaware of the concept of privacy on the web. Following the citation of this study, the Cambridge experts spoke of the urgency of an investigation that would analyze “the long-term consequences for children who interact with those devices. His hypotheses marked that the assistants in “a crucial stage of social and emotional development” it could have a negative impact on “empathy, compassion and critical thinking”.Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest technology news in your email.