Outcome

Narrative

Our project’s goal was to envision and investigate the effects of AI technology on the social skills of children in a future where companion AI technology is likely to become ubiquitous.

We envision a future where the global job market is becoming increasingly competitive- having stellar grades and long lists of extracurriculars will no longer suffice for success. The social skill of networking, which was never taught in school, has become imperative to succeeding in the working world. Thus, parents are looking for ways to improve this skill within their children.

To address this need, Aura Tech had created a special plush released for beta testing that would help children develop social skills to succeed in higher education and post-graduation life. This adaptive plush picks up on natural human speech patterns to model how to empathize and listen to others and create a unique bond with its owner as a tutor and friend. Unfortunately, after 5 years of observing oddly aggressive long-term behavioral development in the children who had the beta plush toys, Aura Tech had recalled the product. Plans are still in the works for another form of machine learning plush toys that do not produce adverse effects, but PlushiePal is permanently obsolete.

Research

Our research covered a variety of topics, including child development/psychology and current trends in human interactions with artificial intelligence. We had found that children need to be taught empathy and to learn how to constructively take criticism at a young age in order to interact well with other people. We also studied modern parenting trends and methods, which showed that parents tended to spend less time with children due to the demands of work and other obligations. This would lead to children forming a stronger bond with hired caretakers. In addition, we found that there is more and more pressure on children to get into prestigious colleges, which leads to increased emphasis on learning social interactions, networking, and doing as many extracurriculars or work as possible in tandem with getting good grades in school.

As for children’s interactions with artificial intelligence, the AI toys for children or responsive chat bots had several precedents. Mattel had already started to develop AI toys such as a holographic Barbie Doll and Aristotle, an AI nanny for children. However, focus groups had protested the mass release of these toys/AI aids because of parents’ concerns of data collection and monitoring their children. There were other concerns about children interacting with AI at an early age, such as getting emotionally attached to an inanimate object. Children were already greeting Alexa and Google Home like human friends. These AI’s were also not responding to children in a way that humans would respond, which would encourage kids to interact with them with impatience and without empathy. One mother wrote about her son flipping his “pet” robot onto its back and gleefully watching it struggle to get back up. The robot did not express any pain or requests for help, which enabled the child to continue to push it around. Chatbots also cannot truly understand the nuances of a situation or one’s inner feelings. In the example of WoeBot, which was an AI designed to help redirect negative emotions, the AI cannot detect issues of abuse or eating disorders from chatting with it, so it cannot offer the proper care or empathy that a child or user would need.

Process and Documentation

Originally, PlushiePal challenged the role of parenting; the toy would over time gather enough knowledge to literally parent the child, giving advice on such chores and necessities like getting to school on time and when to sleep. In this universe, the child would develop a higher reliance on the PlushiePal than on the human parents, and the result caused the human parents to become jealous of the PlushiePal because it would have experienced more of the child’s life than they would have. The child would call after the PlushiePal, forgetting the role of its own parents.

After further development and questioning the plausibility of a personal assistant AI with the unique ability of parenting a child, we began to explore behavioral characteristics in response to an AI. Our new challenge question explored the behavioral development of a child growing up with a PlushiePal, a toy that would take on the role of a friend. This new exploration questioned the how negative behaviors in children could develop after positive reinforcement by a personal AI. 

Arduino Code

Outcomes

The final product was comprised on the shiba doll with the processing electrical components embedded inside and the input/output components (LED, speaker, button) exposed on the outside for the user interaction. Once the button is pressed, the device played one of the three pre-recorded conversation between the PlushiePal and the former owner while the LED light is flashing. Processing was used as the program to link the light, the audio files and the button. Semi-transparent material was used to cap the LED bulb to diffuse the light over a larger area and a metallic paper was used to make the collar for the doll to give it more of a futuristic and refined appearance.

The installation was successful. The pieces were installed as planned: PlushiePal in the middle, the manual and the articles on the left, the video on the right with the timeline on the back panel. 

Lessons Learned and Future Plans 

Following this project, we were able to receive helpful feedback from visitors who interacted with our display during museum showcase. We noticed that people tended to briefly view the set up, glancing at the manual or pressing the plushie’s button a few times. Typically, it was expected for visitors not to spend over two minutes at the display. So it would have been better to have taken the short time frame into consideration. Then, we would have simplified the set up, and focused more on a more condensed, yet meaningful interaction rather than a more drawn-out, storyline based interaction. In particular, we made multiple audio recordings which built off of one another and followed the story of one child who developed a close attachment to their PlushiePal. Over the progression of each of the recordings, one would start to notice more concerning traits develop. However, because visitors did not hear every recording, they were unable to completely gain insight into the full progression of the child’s story and the more negative undertones of PlushiePal’s influence.

In addition, we noticed the visitors sometimes mistook the larger light box on the PlushiePal’s collar as the button to press for audio rather than the actual red button situated near the rear end. In order to make our intended user-interaction with the prototype more clear to the user, we could have placed the button in a more prominent location. Also, we could have given the product interaction a more futuristic feeling by integrating the user interface more seamlessly into the design. Rather than have a red button which might appear to be detached from the rest of the plushie, we could have had the audio files play following a press of the paw or the triggering of a distance sensor near the body. In order to reach these improvements, we would have required more time and resources to improve upon the design and technical components of our project.