Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI
Parent–child story time is an important ritual of contemporary parenting. Recently, robots with artificial intelligence (AI) have become common. Parental acceptance of children’s storytelling robots, however, has received scant attention. To address this, we conducted a qualitative study with 18 par...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.579993/full |
| _version_ | 1818915116624642048 |
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| author | Chaolan Lin Selma Šabanović Lynn Dombrowski Andrew D. Miller Erin Brady Karl F. MacDorman |
| author_facet | Chaolan Lin Selma Šabanović Lynn Dombrowski Andrew D. Miller Erin Brady Karl F. MacDorman |
| author_sort | Chaolan Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parent–child story time is an important ritual of contemporary parenting. Recently, robots with artificial intelligence (AI) have become common. Parental acceptance of children’s storytelling robots, however, has received scant attention. To address this, we conducted a qualitative study with 18 parents using the research technique design fiction. Overall, parents held mixed, though generally positive, attitudes toward children’s storytelling robots. In their estimation, these robots would outperform screen-based technologies for children’s story time. However, the robots’ potential to adapt and to express emotion caused some parents to feel ambivalent about the robots, which might hinder their adoption. We found three predictors of parental acceptance of these robots: context of use, perceived agency, and perceived intelligence. Parents’ speculation revealed an uncanny valley of AI: a nonlinear relation between the human likeness of the artificial agent’s mind and affinity for the agent. Finally, we consider the implications of children’s storytelling robots, including how they could enhance equity in children’s access to education, and propose directions for research on their design to benefit family well-being. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T23:57:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63f112b5e3124c5aaeae888afb8c71fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-9144 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T23:57:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| spelling | doaj.art-63f112b5e3124c5aaeae888afb8c71fe2022-12-21T20:00:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Robotics and AI2296-91442021-05-01810.3389/frobt.2021.579993579993Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AIChaolan Lin0Selma Šabanović1Lynn Dombrowski2Andrew D. Miller3Erin Brady4Karl F. MacDorman5Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, CA, United StatesThe Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United StatesThe School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesThe School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesThe School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesThe School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesParent–child story time is an important ritual of contemporary parenting. Recently, robots with artificial intelligence (AI) have become common. Parental acceptance of children’s storytelling robots, however, has received scant attention. To address this, we conducted a qualitative study with 18 parents using the research technique design fiction. Overall, parents held mixed, though generally positive, attitudes toward children’s storytelling robots. In their estimation, these robots would outperform screen-based technologies for children’s story time. However, the robots’ potential to adapt and to express emotion caused some parents to feel ambivalent about the robots, which might hinder their adoption. We found three predictors of parental acceptance of these robots: context of use, perceived agency, and perceived intelligence. Parents’ speculation revealed an uncanny valley of AI: a nonlinear relation between the human likeness of the artificial agent’s mind and affinity for the agent. Finally, we consider the implications of children’s storytelling robots, including how they could enhance equity in children’s access to education, and propose directions for research on their design to benefit family well-being.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.579993/fullartificial intelligencedesign fictionparent-child storytellingsocial roboticstechnology acceptanceuncanny valley |
| spellingShingle | Chaolan Lin Selma Šabanović Lynn Dombrowski Andrew D. Miller Erin Brady Karl F. MacDorman Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI Frontiers in Robotics and AI artificial intelligence design fiction parent-child storytelling social robotics technology acceptance uncanny valley |
| title | Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI |
| title_full | Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI |
| title_fullStr | Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI |
| title_short | Parental Acceptance of Children’s Storytelling Robots: A Projection of the Uncanny Valley of AI |
| title_sort | parental acceptance of children s storytelling robots a projection of the uncanny valley of ai |
| topic | artificial intelligence design fiction parent-child storytelling social robotics technology acceptance uncanny valley |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.579993/full |
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