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The answers offered by these assistants and the interaction created between the child and the machine could partially hinder his learning possibilities.
“Siri, what’s the weather tomorrow?” “Alexa, what’s my next date?”. If voice assistants take over our interiors a little more each year, their growth is beginning to raise questions about the psychological effects on users, especially children. Indeed, if voice assistants perceived as “friends” are sometimes advertised as reading companions or tools promoting children’s communication, a new study published in Archives of Disease in Childhood shares a concern about the cognitive and social development of children who give social and mental attributes to devices.
Inappropriate answers for children
First problem observed: the answers offered by these assistants are not necessarily appropriate for children. According to research, a recent interaction between a child and an Alexa device led the device to suggest that a 10-year-old girl should try to touch a live outlet with a coin. Answers intended as humorous are also not perceived as such by children. An adjustment remains possible but does not prove to be reliable for all that. “It is difficult to apply strong parental controls to such devices without severely affecting their functionality.” refers to research.
A hindrance to social development and learning?
Regular interaction with voice assistants can also scramble social development in the developing child’s brain. Children tend to view social robots as ontological beings with rights and feelings, despite being aware of the state of the machine.
Gold, “most of the social etiquettes that exist in conventional interactions are not replicated when making inquiries with digital devices” advance the study. “For example, polite terms such as ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ are not expected to be used” continues the document.
Similarly, the tone used by Siri or Alexa does not indicate a feeling, and no non-verbal communication, which underpins a human-to-human conversation, comes into play.
Finally, the use of voice assistants does not correspond to the real needs of children in full learning. Smart devices are designed to quickly retrieve answers to questions posed by the user and provide a concise response. It has been argued that while this feature is certainly useful, it can interfere with the traditional processes by which children learn and absorb information: when children ask adults questions, a conversation is established through which the adult can ask for background information, explain the limits of their knowledge and examine the child’s reasoning. “The process of finding information is an important learning experience, which teaches critical thinking and logical reasoning” reports the study. “Interacting with devices at a crucial stage of social and emotional development could have long-term consequences for empathy, compassion and critical thinking.” concludes the search
A question of education in use, nuance the speech therapists
Consulted on the subject, the National Federation of Speech Therapists is much less critical on the subject of these voice assistants as long as their use remains framed and dosed:
“This is the same problem offered by the proliferation of screens, these are objects that are part of the environment of children today. But it is not the question of the object that is in question here, but the fact of being alone in front of an object. Support remains essential” calls out Aurélien Bresson, speech therapist, vice president of the National Federation and in charge of prevention.
In fact, if used well, the voice assistant can even become a tool in the child’s daily life:
“Yes, there is instant access to information, but from the moment an adult gives a real voice, reacts, puts intonation, he re-establishes a triangular exchange, which is no longer a harmful practice. Quite the contrary. But object education is important” continues the speech therapist.
Before recalling that “illectronism” (echoing illiteracy) – i.e. the fact of not having access at all to these connected objects which today make information accessible, would also be harmful: “Today, a person who does not know how to access research, information without using the new means available, encounters a real handicap, both in information gathering and in his sociability”. Learning to use reading, but also audio and connected resources seems imperative to him.