Are You Real? Ethics of AI Chatbots and Characters for Children with Sonia Tiwari, PhD

Children are increasingly encountering AI characters for both educational and entertainment purposes, but many of the chatbots and other AI products they interact with are not designed with child development and safety in mind. On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry pulls back the curtain on AI and child-centered design with Dr. Sonia Tiwari, a children’s media researcher and AI design expert. Drawing on her experience in game character design and her work bridging industry and academia, Dr. Tiwari explores how children think about and are drawn to AI characters, why AI products commonly used by children and adolescents today often fail at prioritizing child development, and the primary risks of child interactions with AI characters. She also offers insights on how products can be better designed to meet children’s and families’ needs, and what kinds of uses of AI characters might be helpful for children.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How AI characters are experienced differently  than traditional media characters – and why it matters for children and adolescents.
• Why the developing brains of younger children have a more difficult time understanding the fictional nature of today’s AI characters.
• What defines a child-appropriate AI character grounded in developmental science.
• How parents and caregivers can use AI characters with children in purpose-driven and healthy ways.
• What social AI platform developers should consider to ensure their products are more ethically designed and centered on children’s developmental needs. 

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au