Wednesday 28 September 2022 08:32 AM Are Alexa and Siri making our children DUMB? trends now
Alexa, Siri and Google Home might be making children less intelligent and socially stunted, it was claimed today.
The voice-controlled devices — popular in homes across the world — allow users to ask questions and receive answers.
But this may impede youngster's learning skills, critical thinking and empathy, says Dr Anmol Arora, a researcher at Cambridge University.
Dr Anmol Arora, a researcher at Cambridge University, says this is down to the tech only offering short and concise answers to questions, inappropriate responses and being unable to give feedback on their social skills. Pictured: Amazon Echo
Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, Dr Arora warned that the devices may make youngsters less intelligent.
Children can ask a question and receive a 'concise' and 'specific' answer — but this goes against how they traditionally learn and absorb information, he said.
For comparison, when an adult responds to a youngster's question, they can add context, explain the limits of their knowledge and unpick the child's reasoning.
But smart devices can't replicate this process, Dr Arora argued.
And easy access to answers may result in children not searching for the information themselves — a process required for them to learn critical thinking and logical reasoning, he said.
The tech may also give children inappropriate and potentially dangerous responses.
Dr Arora pointed to reports of Amazon's Alexa telling a 10-year-old to plug in a phone charge halfway and touch a coin to the exposed prongs.
He noted that it is difficult to monitor responses and enforce 'robust parental controls on such devices without severely affecting their functionality'.
The