Amazon’s Alexa has become a staple in British homes, where families depend on her thankless work playing music, predicting the weather and reciting recipes on demand.
But now a top neuropsychologist has warned that parents should start to treat the voice assistant with a little more respect by getting into the habit of saying “please” and “thank you” when making commands, to avoid raising a badly behaved child.
Dr Laura Phillips, of the Child Mind Institute, said: “There is a broader movement toward communicating through and with machines rather than people, which is a different style of communication.
"It could be dangerous if we do not make sure that children are developing the social use of language and that we pay attention to how we convey messages and understand the impact of our words on people, like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.”
The World Health Organisation released guidelines this year that stated children under the age of three should not watch TV or sit playing games on a tablet, while those aged three and five should have no more than an hour of screen time a day. The guidance has proven controversial and is disputed by British child experts.
However, little research has been done to assess the impact of voice assistants in the home on developing children as their popularity rises. In 2018, 9.5 million people in the UK used a smart speaker, according to eMarketer figures, with the majority using an Amazon Echo.
Dr Phillips has asked childminders and guests to be polite to the voice assistant because she fears her 11-month-old daughter might confuse social interaction with commands for operating artificial intelligence in the home.
She said: “It is something that I have become really conscious of when we play music for my daughter. She is now soaking up everything we say. I recently had a new caregiver start with my daughter and I have told her that we are trying to be polite with Alexa. It is something that I think is important for families to think about. It makes sense that it could have an impact.”
Amazon has launched a child version of its smart speaker that reinforces good behaviour, however most homes use the default version of the voice assistant. It has faced criticism for its inclusion of bedtime stories which parents can use to soothe their children to sleep.
While Alexa might appear to be a better alternative to a screen, the idea of using it to soothe a child to sleep “hurts my heart,” she said, insisting that the speaker could not replace the bonding, stress reduction and important verbal exchange that takes place when a parent and child read stories together.