Growing up in an artificial intelligence-filled world, with Siri and Amazon Alexa often within arm's - or speech's - reach, could have significant impact on children. Conversational agents could influence how students anthropomorphize computer systems or develop a theory of mind. Previous research has explored how conversational agents are used and perceived by children within and outside of learning contexts. This study investigates how middle and high school students' perceptions of Alexa change through programming their own conversational agents in week-long AI education workshops. Specifically, we investigate the workshops' influence on student perceptions of Alexa's intelligence, friendliness, aliveness, safeness, trustworthiness, human-likeness, and feelings of closeness. We found that students felt Alexa was more intelligent and felt closer to Alexa after the workshops. We also found strong correlations between students' perceptions of Alexa's friendliness and trustworthiness, and safeness and trustworthiness. Finally, we explored how students tended to more frequently use computer science-related diction and ideas after the workshops. Based on our findings, we recommend designers carefully consider personification, transparency, playfulness and utility when designing CAs for learning contexts.
翻译:在人造智能世界中成长,Siri和Amazon Alexa经常在手臂内,或言语范围内,对儿童产生重大影响。交际代理人可以影响学生如何将计算机系统人类化或形成思想理论。以前的研究探讨了儿童如何在学习环境内外使用和认识对话代理人。本研究调查中中学生和高中学生如何通过在为期一周的AI教育讲习班中编程他们自己的谈话代理人来看待Alexa的变化。具体地说,我们调查这些讲习班对学生对Alexa的智慧、友好、活力、安全性、信任性、人性相似性以及亲近感的看法的影响。我们发现学生们觉得Alexa更聪明,在讲习班后感觉更接近Alexa。我们还发现学生对Alexa的友好和信任性以及安全和信任性的看法之间有着密切的关系。最后,我们探讨了学生们如何在讲习班后更经常地使用计算机科学的调频和想法。基于我们的研究结果,我们建议设计师们在设计CA时仔细考虑人性化、透明性、游戏性和实用性。