In my role as a blogger for Witlingo, I get to delve into the world of voice-first technology; smart speakers, apps (called skills) for smart speakers, and the AI voices for the big companies. Those include Siri, Bixby, Cortana, and others. And when I say delve, I mean concentrate as if someone has put me in control of a space shuttle without instruction!
Last week, my post concerned whether kids need to be polite to their AI assistants. The idea was sparked by an excellent post elsewhere that argued, they don’t. The writer’s idea was that children shouldn’t treat AI as if it’s a real person. I disagree and I explain why. Please visit Witlingo HERE for the post titled, Kids, Courtesy and AI. Thanks!
I would agree that teaching kids to use the same or similar manners when dealing with smart devices as they would with a real person is important for it’s all part of positive reinforcement and kids can’t make the distinction for consistency is key to an acceptable pattern of behaviour.
Funny you mention this because initially I was not saying Thank You to, Alexa. Kids are not the only ones. I think that it’s just good form to keep your manners in order. So now, I usually do. Surely it won’t hurt to set an example for children to do so. Disengagement is a genuine issue for them, not only in a digitally dominant world, but with Covid and all of it’s resulting isolation, more of an issue than previously.