A new study by Duke developmental psychologists asked kids just that, as well as how smart and responsive they thought the Alexa smart speaker was compared to its floor standing cousin Roomba, the autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner.
Four to 11-year-olds judged Alexa to have more human thoughts and emotions than Roomba. But despite the perceived difference in intelligence, the children felt that neither Roomba nor Alexa deserved to be yelled at or hurt. However, this feeling diminished as the children progressed towards adolescence.
Flanagan, a visiting scholar in Duke’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience says “In Westworld and in the movie Ex Machina, we see how adults can interact with robots in these very cruel and horrible ways, but how will the children communicate with them?”
127 children visited a science museum and asked technology question
To find out, Flanagan recruited 127 children between the ages of four and eleven who visited a science museum with their families. Children watched a 20 second clip of each technology and were then asked a few questions about each device.
Working under the guidance of Tamar Kushnir, PhD., her graduate advisor and a faculty member at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Flanagan analyzed the survey data and found some mostly reassuring results.
Overall, the kids decided that both Alexa and Roomba were probably not ticklish and wouldn’t feel pain if someone stung them, suggesting they can’t feel physical sensations like humans. They gave Alexa, but not Roomba, high marks for mental and emotional abilities, such as the ability to think or get upset when someone is mean to them.
Young children think Alexa has emotions and a mind
“Even without a body, young children think Alexa has emotions and a mind,” Flanagan said. “And it’s not like they think every technology has emotions and a mind they don’t think Roomba does so there’s something special about Alexa’s ability to communicate verbally.”
Regardless of the different perceived capabilities of the two technologies, children of all ages agreed that it was wrong to hit or yell at the machines.
“Four- and five-year-olds seem to think that you don’t have the freedom to violate morality, for example to assault someone,” Flanagan said. “But as they get older, they seem to think it’s not cool, but you have the freedom to do it.
The study’s findings offer insight 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. For example, should adults model good behavior for their children by thanking Siri or its more sophisticated counterpart ChatGPT for their help?
Why kids think it’s wrong to attack home technology
In their study, one 10-year-old said it wasn’t okay to yell at the technology because “the microphone sensors might break if you yell too loud,” while another 10-year-old said it wasn’t okay because the robot would 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 someone’s property and it might break?”
Written by: Vaishali Verma
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