MSGID: 1:317/3 6434e26e   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Kids judge Alexa smarter than Roomba, but say both deserve kindness   
    Four to 11-year-olds deem it wrong to attack either semi-intelligent   
   robot    
      
     Date:   
         April 10, 2023   
     Source:   
         Duke University   
     Summary:   
         Most kids know it's wrong to yell or hit someone, but what if that   
         someone is a robot named Alexa? A new study asked kids how smart   
         and sensitive they thought the virtual assistant was compared to   
         a robotic vacuum. Four- to eleven-year-olds rated Alexa as more   
         intelligent than the Roomba but felt neither deserve to be yelled   
         at or otherwise harmed.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Most kids know it's wrong to yell or hit someone, even if they don't   
   always keep their hands to themselves. But what about if that someone's   
   name is Alexa?   
      
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   A new study from Duke developmental psychologists asked kids just that,   
   as well as how smart and sensitive they thought the smart speaker Alexa   
   was compared to its floor-dwelling cousin Roomba, an autonomous vacuum.   
      
   Four- to eleven-year-olds judged Alexa to have more human-like thoughts   
   and emotions than Roomba. But despite the perceived difference in   
   intelligence, kids felt neither the Roomba nor the Alexa deserve to be   
   yelled at or harmed.   
      
   That feeling dwindled as kids advanced towards adolescence, however. The   
   findings appear online April 10 in the journal Developmental Psychology.   
      
   The research was inspired in part by lead author Teresa Flanagan seeing   
   how Hollywood depicts human-robot interactions in shows like HBO's   
   "Westworld."  "In Westworld and the movie Ex Machina, we see how adults   
   might interact with robots in these very cruel and horrible ways,"   
   said Flanagan, a visiting scholar in the department of psychology &   
   neuroscience at Duke. "But how would kids interact with them?"  To find   
   out, Flanagan recruited 127 children aged four to eleven who were visiting   
   a science museum with their families. The kids watched a 20-second clip   
   of each technology, and then were asked a few questions about each device.   
      
   Working under the guidance of Tamar Kushnir, Ph.D., her graduate advisor   
   and a Duke Institute for Brain Sciences faculty member, Flanagan analyzed   
   the survey data and found some mostly reassuring results.   
      
   Overall, kids decided that both the Alexa and Roomba probably aren't   
   ticklish and wouldn't feel pain if they got pinched, suggesting they   
   can't feel physical sensations like people do. However, they gave Alexa,   
   but not the Roomba, high marks for mental and emotional capabilities,   
   like being able to think or getting upset after someone is mean to it.   
      
   "Even without a body, young children think the Alexa has emotions and   
   a mind," Flanagan said. "And it's not that they think every technology   
   has emotions and minds -- they don't think the Roomba does -- so it's   
   something special about the Alexa's ability to communicate verbally."   
   Regardless of the different perceived abilities of the two technologies,   
   children across all ages agreed it was wrong to hit or yell at the   
   machines.   
      
   "Kids don't seem to think a Roomba has much mental abilities like thinking   
   or feeling," Flanagan said. "But kids still think we should treat it   
   well. We shouldn't hit or yell at it even if it can't hear us yelling."   
   The older kids got however, the more they reported it would be slightly   
   more acceptable to attack technology.   
      
   "Four- and five-year-olds seem to think you don't have the freedom to   
   make a moral violation, like attacking someone," Flanagan said. "But   
   as they get older, they seem to think it's not great, but you do have   
   the freedom to do it."  The study's findings offer insights into the   
   evolving relationship between children and technology and raise important   
   questions about the ethical treatment of AI and machines in general,   
   and as parents. Should adults, for example, model good behavior for their   
   kids by thanking Siri or its more sophisticated counterpart ChatGPT for   
   their help?  For now, Flanagan and Kushnir are trying to understand why   
   children think it is wrong to assault home technology.   
      
   In their study, one 10-year-old said it was not okay to yell at the   
   technology because, "the microphone sensors might break if you yell   
   too loudly," whereas another 10-year-old said it was not okay because   
   "the robot will actually feel really sad."  "It's interesting with these   
   technologies because there's another aspect: it's a piece of property,"   
   Flanagan said. "Do kids think you shouldn't hit these things because it's   
   morally wrong, or because it's somebody's property and it might break?"   
   This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (SL-   
   1955280, BCS-1823658).   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Child_Psychology # Child_Development # K-12_Education   
                   # Learning_Disorders   
             o Computers_&_Math   
                   # Educational_Technology # Video_Games # Robotics #   
                   Artificial_Intelligence   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Robot o Robot_calibration o Industrial_robot o   
             Virtual_reality o Robotic_surgery o Android o Humanoid_robot   
             o Artificial_intelligence   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Duke_University. Note: Content may   
   be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Teresa Flanagan, Gavin Wong, Tamar Kushnir. The minds of machines:   
         Children's beliefs about the experiences, thoughts, and morals   
         of familiar interactive technologies.. Developmental Psychology,   
         2023; DOI: 10.1037/dev0001524   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230410123646.htm   
      
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