Kids can be kind to machines, a Duke University study found. They also believed people should not yell at or harm AI devices.
The study asked a group of 127 four to 11 year-old children to rate how smart Alexa was compared to the floor-cleaning Roomba. Kids tended to say Alexa and Roomba probably are not ticklish, but more children thought Alexa had mental and emotional capabilities...and that the Alexa could even become upset if someone were mean to it. Children agreed it would be wrong to hit both machines.
One 10-year-old said it was not okay to yell at the machines because the microphone might break. Another said "the robot will actually feel really sad."
Here's a young boy having a conversation with Alexa:
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