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Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers gathered eight kids on campus to explore how they played with AI toys. The kids initially were curious, asking introductory questions, such as “What is your name?â€� But after communication breakdowns, the kids turned to antagonizing the toys, calling them “uglyâ€� and “evilâ€� and joking about throwing them in the ocean.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers developed the game AI Puzzlers to show kids an area where AI systems still typically and blatantly fail: solving certain reasoning puzzles. In the game, users get a chance to solve puzzles by completing patterns of colored blocks. They can then ask various AI chatbots to solve and have the systems explain their solutions — which they nearly always fail to do accurately.

“We asked one 11-year-old how he’d feel if his favorite book series was written by AI instead of an author, and he said it would ‘dismantle’ the joy of reading for him. We often don’t think about kids having these deep, existential questions about what it means to be an artist,â€� said Michele Newman, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ doctoral student in the Information School.