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posted by martyb on Thursday August 29 2019, @03:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the and-don't-believe-promises-of-cake dept.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

As a new generation grows up surrounded by artificial intelligence, researchers find education as early as preschool can help avoid confusion about robots' role

If you want your preschooler to grow up with a healthy attitude toward artificial intelligence, here's a tip: Don't call that cute talking robot 'he' or 'she.'

Call the robot 'it.'

Today's small children, aka Generation Alpha, are the first to grow up with robots as peers. Those winsome talking devices spawned by a booming education-tech industry can speed children's learning, but they also can be confusing to them, research shows. Many children think robots are smarter than humans or imbue them with magical powers.

The long-term consequences of growing up surrounded by AI-driven devices won't be clear for a while. But an expanding body of research is lending new impetus to efforts to expand technology education beyond learning to code, to understanding how AI works. Children need help drawing boundaries between themselves and the technology, and gaining confidence in their own ability to control and master it, researchers say."

[...] How to Raise an AI-Savvy Child

* Use the pronoun "it" when referring to a robot.

* Display a positive attitude toward the beneficial effects of AI.

* Encourage your child to explore how robots are built.

* Explain that humans are the source of AI-driven devices' intelligence.

* Guard against AI-propelled toys that presume too much, such as claiming to be your child's best friend.

* Invite children to consider the ethics of AI design, such as how a bot should behave after winning a game.

* Encourage skepticism about information received from smart toys and devices.


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:53PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:53PM (#887434)

    No, it doesn't. Wharfianism has long since been debunked because it's not true. People regularly coin phrases and terms when the language fails to express something conveniently that the speaker needs to communicate. The linguistic limitation was never really established as humans regularly communicate in other forms when language is insufficient. Actual language is only like 10% of communication.

    If a language can't easily express something, it's usually because it's not relevant. It's why most of those 3rd person pronouns will never catch on. It's a tiny portion of the population trying to dictate how the language works trying to compete with 3 preexisting pronouns to cover the situation.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @11:07PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @11:07PM (#887543)

    What about co-opting words such as "friend" and "like" and "sharing"? Corporations already do this today. Bet they are going to try "love" and "family" next.

  • (Score: 2) by Common Joe on Sunday September 01 2019, @03:09PM

    by Common Joe (33) <{common.joe.0101} {at} {gmail.com}> on Sunday September 01 2019, @03:09PM (#888486) Journal

    Actually, it does. Languages that use gender for objects often have more problems with sexism in the population.