Parents’ ontological beliefs regarding the use of conversational agents at home: resisting the neoliberal discourse

IF 4 1区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Learning Media and Technology Pub Date : 2023-01-12 DOI:10.1080/17439884.2023.2166529

N. Kucirkova, Alexis Hiniker

{"title":"Parents’ ontological beliefs regarding the use of conversational agents at home: resisting the neoliberal discourse","authors":"N. Kucirkova, Alexis Hiniker","doi":"10.1080/17439884.2023.2166529","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This paper develops a critical perspective on the use of conversational agents (CAs) with children at home. Drawing on interviews with eleven parents of pre-school children living in Norway, we illustrate the ways in which parents resisted the values epitomised by CAs. We problematise CAs’ attributes in light of parents’ ontological perceptions of what it means to be human and outline how their attitudes correspond to Bourdieu’s [1998a. Acts of Resistance. New York: New Press] concept of acts of resistance. For example, parents saw artificial conversation designed for profit as a potential threat to users’ autonomy and the instant gratification of CAs as a threat to children’s development. Parents’ antecedent beliefs map onto the ontological tensions between human and non-human attributes and challenge the neoliberal discourse by demanding freedom and equality for users rather than productivity and economic gain. Parents’ comments reflect the belief that artificial conversation with a machine inappropriately and ineffectively mimics a nuanced and intimate human-to-human experience in service of profit motives. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 21 July 2022 Accepted 20 December 2022","PeriodicalId":47502,"journal":{"name":"Learning Media and Technology","volume":"24 25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Learning Media and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2023.2166529","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 1

Abstract

This paper develops a critical perspective on the use of conversational agents (CAs) with children at home. Drawing on interviews with eleven parents of pre-school children living in Norway, we illustrate the ways in which parents resisted the values epitomised by CAs. We problematise CAs’ attributes in light of parents’ ontological perceptions of what it means to be human and outline how their attitudes correspond to Bourdieu’s [1998a. Acts of Resistance. New York: New Press] concept of acts of resistance. For example, parents saw artificial conversation designed for profit as a potential threat to users’ autonomy and the instant gratification of CAs as a threat to children’s development. Parents’ antecedent beliefs map onto the ontological tensions between human and non-human attributes and challenge the neoliberal discourse by demanding freedom and equality for users rather than productivity and economic gain. Parents’ comments reflect the belief that artificial conversation with a machine inappropriately and ineffectively mimics a nuanced and intimate human-to-human experience in service of profit motives. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 21 July 2022 Accepted 20 December 2022

查看原文本刊更多论文

父母关于在家中使用会话代理的本体论信念:抵制新自由主义话语

本文发展了一种批判性的观点，即在家庭中使用会话代理(ca)。通过对11位生活在挪威的学龄前儿童父母的采访，我们说明了父母抵制ca所体现的价值观的方式。我们根据父母对人类意义的本体论看法，对ca的属性提出了问题，并概述了他们的态度如何与布迪厄的[1998]相对应。抵抗行为。纽约:新出版社]抵抗行为的概念。例如，家长们认为为了利益而设计的人为对话是对用户自主权的潜在威胁，而ca的即时满足则是对儿童发展的威胁。父母的先行信念映射到人类和非人类属性之间的本体论紧张关系，并通过要求用户的自由和平等而不是生产力和经济收益来挑战新自由主义话语。家长们的评论反映了一种信念，即与机器的人工对话不恰当且无效地模仿了细微而亲密的人与人之间的体验，以服务于利润动机。文章历史接收2022年7月21日接收2022年12月20日

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Learning Media and Technology EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-

CiteScore

11.40

自引率

14.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Learning, Media and Technology aims to stimulate debate on digital media, digital technology and digital cultures in education. The journal seeks to include submissions that take a critical approach towards all aspects of education and learning, digital media and digital technology - primarily from the perspective of the social sciences, humanities and arts. The journal has a long heritage in the areas of media education, media and cultural studies, film and television, communications studies, design studies and general education studies. As such, Learning, Media and Technology is not a generic ‘Ed Tech’ journal. We are not looking to publish context-free studies of individual technologies in individual institutional settings, ‘how-to’ guides for the practical use of technologies in the classroom, or speculation on the future potential of technology in education. Instead we invite submissions which build on contemporary debates such as: -The ways in which digital media interact with learning environments, educational institutions and educational cultures -The changing nature of knowledge, learning and pedagogy in the digital age -Digital media production, consumption and creativity in educational contexts -How digital media are shaping (and being shaped by) educational practices in local, national and global contexts -The social, cultural, economic and political nature of educational media and technology -The ways in which digital media in education interact with issues of democracy and equity, social justice and public good. Learning, Media and Technology analyses such questions from a global, interdisciplinary perspective in contributions of the very highest quality from scholars and practitioners in the social sciences, communication and media studies, cultural studies, philosophy, history as well as in the information and computer sciences.