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How millions of kids are being shaped by know-it-all voice assistants
In a blog post last year, a California venture capitalist wrote that his 4-year-old daughter thought Alexa was the best speller in the house. “But I fear it’s also turning our daughter into a raging a------,” Hunter Walk wrote. “Because Alexa tolerates poor manners.”
To ask her a question, all you need to do is say her name, followed by the query. No “please.” And no “thank you” before asking a follow-up.
“Cognitively I’m not sure a kid gets why you can boss Alexa around but not a person,” Walk wrote. “At the very least, it creates patterns and reinforcement that so long as your diction is good, you can get what you want without niceties.”
Jones, the librarian, has witnessed the digital equivalent of everybody asking a question at the same time.
“You all are being really pushy,” she’ll say, as Alexa declares over and over that she doesn’t understand. “You’re confusing her. One at a time, just like a person.”
In a blog post last year, a California venture capitalist wrote that his 4-year-old daughter thought Alexa was the best speller in the house. “But I fear it’s also turning our daughter into a raging a------,” Hunter Walk wrote. “Because Alexa tolerates poor manners.”
To ask her a question, all you need to do is say her name, followed by the query. No “please.” And no “thank you” before asking a follow-up.
“Cognitively I’m not sure a kid gets why you can boss Alexa around but not a person,” Walk wrote. “At the very least, it creates patterns and reinforcement that so long as your diction is good, you can get what you want without niceties.”
Jones, the librarian, has witnessed the digital equivalent of everybody asking a question at the same time.
“You all are being really pushy,” she’ll say, as Alexa declares over and over that she doesn’t understand. “You’re confusing her. One at a time, just like a person.”
