4 ms·

Children describe technology that gives them a sense of ambiguity as 'creepy'

46 points by howard941 7y ago

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
stabbles 7y ago
Don't tell the kids! Otherwise they might stop giving this meaning to the word, rendering the research useless.
cardamomo 7y ago
Hopeful takeaway: This research will help us better understand children's social, emotional, and cognitive development so we might support their growth and human relationships. Cynical takeaway: This research makes it easier to produce apps and devices that capture and exploit children's trust.
- ASalazarMX 7y ago
  Market takeaway: Which one of those is more likely to make the most money in the shortest time span?
- 781 7y ago
  > This research makes it easier to produce apps and devices that capture and exploit children's trust. You mean like the toy industry? I wonder why all kids toys are so brightly colored. It's as if it had a purpose...
  - cardamomo 7y ago
    Of course the toy and entertainment industries have learned similar lessons already. This research stands out to me, though, because it's not considering products that are explicitly directed at children. Rather, it considers the broader role of technology within children's home lives. Children have always been surrounded by technology designed for and used by the adults in their lives. Our era is no exception to that.
  - rightbyte 7y ago
    Parents are buying the toys. If it's wrong to do things children think are nice and fun I don't know whats right or wrong. An app might decept the parents and eg. show ads only when the child is alone and so on.
evrydayhustling 7y ago
Really interesting study. Article DOI link is broken, so here is ACM page where you can get original study: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3300303 https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3300303 I think this is both interesting and valuable, but since it's reported as a study this is an important caveat: it looks like it is based on 11 children who were all part of a group that gas done collaborative design exercises and studies repeatedly for several years. So this is not a typical child cohort, which might explain why they know so much about facial recognition (and Corraline :) ).
toufka 7y ago
When null defaults aren't actually innocuous: > For example, when a child asked a digital voice assistant if it would kill him in his sleep and it said, "I can't answer that," the child was concerned.
- derefr 7y ago
  It's just the specific phrasing, though. A different phrasing like "I don't understand your question" would also be fully general, and wouldn't be concerning at all.
  - bch 7y ago
    > “I don’t understand your question” That’s actually specific and more precise, which is the point. It also shifts the burden of fault to the machine, rather than, with the alternative, wondering if it’s holding out on you. This is akin to the manners we’re taught as children.
    - jasonhansel 7y ago
      "Do you understand the difference between right and wrong?" "I don't understand your question." Nope, still creepy.
      - derefr 7y ago
        I mean, we can be as precise as you like; it just gets unwieldy: "I do not have experience or training with this type of question, and have no general capacity to answer questions that I have not been specifically trained to answer." Or, in the immortal words of Infocom's Z-machine: "Huh?"

46 points by howard941 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

stabbles 7y ago

Don't tell the kids! Otherwise they might stop giving this meaning to the word, rendering the research useless.

cardamomo 7y ago

Hopeful takeaway: This research will help us better understand children's social, emotional, and cognitive development so we might support their growth and human relationships. Cynical takeaway: This research makes it easier to produce apps and devices that capture and exploit children's trust.

ASalazarMX 7y ago
Market takeaway: Which one of those is more likely to make the most money in the shortest time span?
781 7y ago
> This research makes it easier to produce apps and devices that capture and exploit children's trust. You mean like the toy industry? I wonder why all kids toys are so brightly colored. It's as if it had a purpose...
- cardamomo 7y ago
  Of course the toy and entertainment industries have learned similar lessons already. This research stands out to me, though, because it's not considering products that are explicitly directed at children. Rather, it considers the broader role of technology within children's home lives. Children have always been surrounded by technology designed for and used by the adults in their lives. Our era is no exception to that.
- rightbyte 7y ago
  Parents are buying the toys. If it's wrong to do things children think are nice and fun I don't know whats right or wrong. An app might decept the parents and eg. show ads only when the child is alone and so on.

evrydayhustling 7y ago

Really interesting study. Article DOI link is broken, so here is ACM page where you can get original study: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3300303 https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3300303 I think this is both interesting and valuable, but since it's reported as a study this is an important caveat: it looks like it is based on 11 children who were all part of a group that gas done collaborative design exercises and studies repeatedly for several years. So this is not a typical child cohort, which might explain why they know so much about facial recognition (and Corraline :) ).

toufka 7y ago

When null defaults aren't actually innocuous: > For example, when a child asked a digital voice assistant if it would kill him in his sleep and it said, "I can't answer that," the child was concerned.

derefr 7y ago
It's just the specific phrasing, though. A different phrasing like "I don't understand your question" would also be fully general, and wouldn't be concerning at all.
- bch 7y ago
  > “I don’t understand your question” That’s actually specific and more precise, which is the point. It also shifts the burden of fault to the machine, rather than, with the alternative, wondering if it’s holding out on you. This is akin to the manners we’re taught as children.
  - jasonhansel 7y ago
    "Do you understand the difference between right and wrong?" "I don't understand your question." Nope, still creepy.
    - derefr 7y ago
      I mean, we can be as precise as you like; it just gets unwieldy: "I do not have experience or training with this type of question, and have no general capacity to answer questions that I have not been specifically trained to answer." Or, in the immortal words of Infocom's Z-machine: "Huh?"