Is Synthetic Intelligence Contributing Positively To Parenting? Weighing The Execs And Cons With Angela J. Kim
Angela J. Kim and family
Angela J. Kim
As artificial intelligence becomes more and more a part of our everyday lives, it is important to consider how this evolving technology will affect the way we educate. It seems that most of the discussions about parenting and AI focus on privacy issues, but there are plenty of other ways these two worlds intersect.
Angela J. Kim is the creator of the popular Mommy Diary lifestyle blog and podcast and the leading Asian-American voice on motherhood and lifestyle. Kim has worked with companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon Alexa on their latest AI gadgets for families like Google Family, Microsoft Edge Kids Mode and Alexa and believes this will be a growing trend for families.
“What I learned when I started Mommy Diary in the early 2000s was that in the parenting relationship, it’s the parents who need more help. I started Mommy Diary after going through severe postpartum depression with my first two children, and it was meant to be a community that helped mothers get better, mentally fit, and stronger, ”says Kim.
“I knew this was the only way to be a better parent. Artificial intelligence engineers should take a similar perspective; We need more tools to help parents learn, grow, and remain conscious than we need technology for children”
Angela’s point is also confirmed by AI experts. Some companies have also risen to the challenge. One such company developed Muse, an AI-based app that stepped into the parental guidance realm as a technique for parents rather than the more popular technique for children.
Muse focuses on using machine learning and big data to help parents raise creative, motivated, and emotionally intelligent children.
In the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion of AI-powered solutions purported to help parents. Chatterbaby, a smartphone AI app claims to help parents understand if their child is picky, hungry, or in pain by analyzing the acoustic characteristics of a baby’s crying while Snoo, an AI-equipped bassinet, is one The newborn is caressed and calmed until the parents rest. There is also Nanit, an AI nanny who studies a baby’s sleep rhythm and finds the reason for a baby’s nocturnal restlessness.
However, resources directly related to the baby have been heavily criticized on various forums, although they are obviously useful. Angela explains why this criticism is to be expected;
“Parenting is an emotional activity; a mother is naturally endowed with the intuition to know what her baby’s cries mean. We don’t have a lot of long-term studies of what it means to rely on this technology to communicate with our children. It’s clear they have short-term value, but it’s much safer to have AI tools parents can use to better equip themselves with the art of parenting. In this way, our children can enjoy direct emotional contact more often. “
Kim insists that AI has brought some value to parenting, especially in the area of stress reduction for parents and mothers. It does, however, leave a warning; “A mother’s intuition is the best app for raising her children. My advice is to use tools and not let them use us. Parents should accept any tool with caution. “
Angela J. Kim and family
Angela J. Kim
Not only does AI help parents with general parenting tasks, it also helps our children learn better. Google Read Along is a tool designed to help children improve their reading skills quickly. This is just one of the tools available to teach children different skills.
However, the AI cannot determine on its own when an external distraction is hindering their learning or when a child is inherently unsuitable for a particular type of skill. In order for AI to be more suitable for parents, parents still need to be heavily involved to guide them and deny their decisions based on their intimate knowledge of their children.
There are a variety of AI tools that are helpful in improving children’s behavior and monitoring their activities from TV time to internet usage time. At the same time, however, we cannot rely on them to teach our children why certain activities are harmful or to teach them effective decision-making.
AI powered cameras are available to monitor your kids for safety, but AI cannot protect them if something bad happens. Parents need to use these tools to get better without relying on them to act as parents.
One of the most groundbreaking innovations in parenting AI came in 2020 when Avatarminds, a giant AI company, released iPal, a robot that they claimed could do about 50% of parenting.
iPal allegedly walks, talks, plays and dances, reads stories, and connects to social media and the internet. It also gradually learns a child’s likes and dislikes. The bot can wake a child in the morning and guide them through the morning rituals. The selling point is that it does this with “personality” using its Emotional Management System to simulate human emotions.
Angela Kim has spent a large part of her life advising mothers on parenting and has built a multi-digit six-digit blog and podcast out of it. She recognizes the difficulties of parenting, but maintains a certain skepticism about what she calls “looming over-reliance on AI and technology”;
“Mothers are responsible for over 80% of household expenses. That makes them a very valuable population group. I recognized this great potential in the mother market early on and since then have made tremendous strides in the education of mothers, especially mothers with special needs and Asian-American mothers like me. “
“Based on my experience, I feel it is risky to address this looming over-reliance on AI and technology. For example, children with special needs are not always deciphered early on and in many cases AI robots may be useless to help them. Could a robot also provide the authentic back and forth that helps children develop self-esteem, mutuality, and empathy? Even if you can, won’t that constant connection with technology lose valuable time in real family bonding? Worse still, won’t it take away the craving for it? We have to answer these critical questions later. “
However, Kim believes AI is a valuable tool for families with special needs, including iPads and Kindles with digital therapy apps and various ancillary devices.
Additionally, Kim mentioned that she used AI technologies like Nancy, Snoo, Owlet on her last child that weren’t available in her elders and believes they help parents with first year sleep problems.
The general consensus in parenting communities is that parents should use AI more for self-improvement and task fulfillment and less and less as a companion for their children.
This is not to say that AI technology should not be used at all, as parents need rest whenever they can get it. The suggestion is that they should be monitored, regulated and used sparingly to achieve specific goals.
Angela J. Kim and family
Angela J. Kim
“Task-based usage,” advises Angela, AI tools like Google Family Link can help parents monitor online activity, regulate online purchases and even close a child’s account if necessary. Net Nanny can help monitor social media usage.
There are also a variety of AI apps and tools that parents can use to organize their calendars and set reminders for kid-oriented activities. These tasks are of great benefit to parents and should be accepted.
A task-based approach to AI gives families time to spend together, as opposed to a “companion-based” approach that replaces parents with technology and, in the long run, reduces the need for parents to mentor and counsel their children.
“A future with AI is inevitable, but it is not the answer to the growing desire to work more and spend less time with family,” says Kim.
“It should rather be the opposite, it should free us from everyday tasks, educate and refresh us to spend more time with the family.”
Angela’s words are enlightening for both developers and parents to move forward. If this mindset influences the development of AI solutions, an AI-powered future might not look so bad for the family after all.
