Experts in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare say voice control smart devices, like Alexa, Siri and Google Home, might hinder children’s social and emotional development.
The theory, by Anmol Arora and Ananya Arora of the University of Cambridge and published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, suggested that such devices could have long term effects by impeding children’s critical thinking, capacity for empathy and compassion, and their learning skills.
While voice control devices may act as “friends” and help to improve children’s reading and communication skills, the researchers said their advanced AI and “human” sounding voices have prompted concerns about the potential long term effects on children’s brains at a crucial stage of development.
They said there were three broad areas of concern: inappropriate responses; impeding social development; and hindering learning, and cited some well publicised examples of inappropriate responses, including a device suggesting that a 10-year old should try touching a live plug with a coin.
“It is difficult to enforce robust parental controls on such devices without severely affecting their functionality,” they said, adding that privacy issues had also arisen in respect of the recording of private conversations.
These devices can’t teach children how to behave politely, because there’s no expectation of a “please” or “thank you”, and no need to consider the tone of voice, they pointed out.
“The lack of ability to engage in non-verbal communication makes these devices a poor method of learning social interaction. While in normal human interactions, a child would usually receive constructive feedback if they were to behave inappropriately, this is beyond the scope of a smart device.”
Preliminary research on the use of voice assistants as social companions for lonely adults is encouraging. But it’s not at all clear if this also applies to children, they noted.
“This is particularly important at a time when children might already have had social development impaired as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and when (they) might have been spending more time isolated with smart devices at home,” they wrote.
Devices are designed to search for requested information and provide a concise, specific answer, but this might hinder traditional processes by which children learn and absorb information, they added.
“When children ask adults questions, the adult can request contextual information, explain the limitations of their knowledge and probe the child’s reasoning – a process these devices can’t replicate. Searching for information is also an important learning experience, which teaches critical thinking and logical reasoning.
“The rise of voice devices has provided great benefit to the population. Their abilities to provide information rapidly, assist with daily activities, and act as a social companion to lonely adults are both important and useful.
“However, urgent research is required into the long-term consequences for children interacting with such devices,” they said.
The Aroras said interacting with the devices at “a crucial stage in social and emotional development might have long-term consequences on empathy, compassion and critical thinking.”
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