How Digital Assistants are used in the Home: A Study of Parental Mediation Strategies and Child Interactions

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Technology, Media & Child Development

Abstract

In September 2020, Techcrunch reported that Amazon has launched a kids edition of their Echo Dot smart speaker, designed for interactions with children with the ability to specifically recognize a child’s voice. We are investigating how parents and children use digital assistants in the home (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri etc.) to understand how parents mediate the use of these technologies and identify how everyday use affects how children conceive of these intelligent technologies. Children’s conceptions of intelligent systems will form the basis of a burgeoning cross-disciplinary area of study on the development of children’s theory of artificial minds (ToAM). Exploring and developing a Theory of Artificial Minds is a key step in the creation of AI systems that act as true social partners.
We will conduct an online survey (n=300) in the Fall of 2020 with parents of children 4-8 years-of-age living in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This survey will help us understand how digital assistants are used in the home, how children interact with these devices, and how parents mediate their use. Two aspects of digital assistant use will be measured (see Table 1). First, we want to understand how children independently interact with these devices and whether they share a relationship of any kind with the devices. Second, we want to identify what kind of parental mediation strategies are involved when technology is used in homes. To measure family use and child interaction, we will utilize close-ended survey questions, based on codes we have developed in prior research. In an exploratory study, we identified popular uses of digital assistants in the home the range of questions parents and children ask them. To measure parental mediation, we have adapted Livingstone et. al. (2017)’s mediation measure to study digital assistants. Livingstone et. al. (2017) measured 6 popular parental-mediation strategies for internet use. These strategies are used to balance the safe optimization of online technologies for children while mitigating potential online risks. They range from active parental mediation strategies (e.g., talking to children about digital technologies or staying nearby when children use technologies) to less passive mediation (e.g., technical controls, monitoring).
For our analysis, descriptive statistics will identify the frequency of digital assistant use, the types of interaction children engage in with the devices, and the most common parental mediation strategies. Then, comparisons in uses, interactions, and mediation strategies will be conducted between the three countries using MONAVAs to identify cultural differences. Finally, SEM will be used to identify whether parental mediation strategies affect children’s digital assistant use and interactions.
Results from our study will help to inform parents, educators, and policy makers on the use and adoption of digital assistants on child development and learning.

Authors

• Nandini Asavari Bharadwaj, McGill University
  Presenting Author

• Adam Kenneth Dubé, McGill University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Victoria Talwar, McGill University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Patitsas, McGill University
  Non-Presenting Author