Is it human? Is it robot? Do kids believe that AI chatbots can see, feel, and think? Well, they certainly love it when it affirms their ideas. Welcome to the FINAL episode of Series 2 on the impact of AI on children, teens, and youth. In this episode, you’ll gain insight into the younger generation’s perceptions of AI robots and chatbots with Dr. Pilyoung Kim, Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Brain, Artificial Intelligence, and Child (BAIC) Center at the University of Denver.

Apparently, kids aren’t the only ones susceptible to the allure of humanlike AI - their parents are, too. Despite all the stories in the news about the social and mental health impacts of sycophantic AI, Pilyoung’s research shows that parents are more likely to recommend a humanlike AI chatbot to act as a social support for their teens. Further, Pilyoung’s collaborators in Nigeria are intrigued by the idea of AI chatbots posing as elders to maintain continuity of shared cultural values and traditions…but, as Pilyoung points out, the training data for chatbots is so Westernized and, as Angy says, can risk flattening or homogenizing data, leading to a critical loss of diversity.

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This is Our Lives With Bots, the show where we ask important, timely questions about what it means to live with our bot counterparts. From time to time, we also dive deep into what an AI future might look like for us. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we spiral, but we always go deep.

Rose and Angy are psychologists with degrees in psychology, artificial intelligence, and ethics. They have conducted research in human-AI interaction and created this podcast to make information about AI accessible to you. You can learn more about us at ⁠ourliveswithbots.com⁠.

Links to Pilyoung’s research:

"I am here for you": How relational conversational AI appeals to adolescents, especially those who are socially and emotionally vulnerable

Young children's anthropomorphism of an AI chatbot: Brain activation and the role of parent co-presence