Friday, August 29, 2025

Relax, parents – study indicates Siri and Alexa are not ruining your kids

Children are often delighted to find that they can ask Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa to play their favourite songs or call Grandma. But does hanging out with Alexa or Siri affect the way children communicate with fellow humans? Probably not, according to a recent study led by the University of Washington that found that children are sensitive to context when it comes to these conversations. The team had a conversational agent teach 22 children between the ages of 5 and 10 to use the word “bungo” to ask it to speak more quickly. The children readily used the word when a robot slowed down its speech. While most children did use bungo in conversations with their parents, it became a source of play or an inside joke about acting like a robot. But when a researcher spoke slowly to the children, the kids rarely used bungo, and often patiently waited for the researcher to finish talking before responding.

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-alexa-siri-kids-bossier.html

BIG Media
BIG Media
Our focus is on facts, accurate data, and logical interpretation. Our only agenda is the truth.
spot_img

BIG Wrap

European leaders express anger after Russian strikes kill 21 and damage EU HQ

(BBC News) The head of the European Union's executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has spoken of her outrage at Russia's deadliest onslaught on...

Intel receives $5.7 billion as U.S. government buys 10% stake

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The chief financial officer for chip manufacturer Intel, David Zinsner, has announced his company received $5.7 billion as part of...