The audience of children’s virtual assistants is growing every year – the demand for them is growing from year to year grew up 43%. Virtual assistants are especially in demand in education: almost every second student in Russia uses them.
But the use of virtual assistants by children also has its own nuances that must be taken into account. First of all, it is a security issue – such an assistant has constant access to the Internet, which allows you to get almost any content in a convenient form. But children are not ready for absolutely all content: it is necessary to filter out unsafe information, “adult” content, profanity.
Another common problem is children’s access to paid apps and sites linked to their parents’ bank cards. The result could be an unplanned purchase. For example, last year, a child, without his parents knowing, Issuance Order on WB for 250 thousand rubles. It is not known whether the family bought the goods; even if they refused, parents will have to pay more than 28 thousand rubles for the return. In the case in question, the child accessed an account in the marketplace using his mother’s phone. However, this access could also be obtained through a virtual assistant.
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“Virtual assistants can be useful; the child learns to search for new information, expands his horizons, auditory attention, and critical thinking skills. Children also learn how to correctly formulate requests to artificial intelligence, and this improves reading literacy and understanding of meaning. The potential danger of such devices remains and is no different from the threats posed by uncontrolled surfing the Internet. At the same time, the responsibility for the child always lies with the parents – when buying smart devices, adults should know how to enable special settings and child modes,” said Polina Maltseva, founder of the educational project and author of EDpower courses for parents.
Kids mode
To eliminate such situations and safely filter the content consumed by the child, manufacturers offer a special child mode on smart devices.
Today in Russia, there are three popular virtual assistants from Russian companies that are used by most families. These include “Alice”, “Marusya” and “Salyut”. Each assistant has a child mode and additional security options, but they work and are configured differently.
Smart devices controlled by Alice
Smart devices with Alice are produced by Yandex. “Alice” considers voices up to 10-12 years old as children’s voices – in order for the assistant to distinguish them from adults, you need to enable the “Understand Children” option in the smart home application. The function is activated simultaneously on all devices connected to your smart home account. When activated, Alice will automatically filter the content. For example, if an adult owner of a smart speaker wants to turn on music, Alice will start a personal selection. In response to the same request from the child, the assistant will play children’s songs.
Adults can customize too two filters for the child’s voice – this allows you to expand the amount of content available as the child grows:
● The “For Kids” filter is a special selection carefully selected by editors. It contains content for children only 0+
● “Child filter” is suitable for older children – all content is available except 18+.
Another option is a separate child account. If you connect a smart speaker to such an account, “Alice” will select content for the child and address them by name. Content filtering is automatically enabled on the child’s account for added security.
Smart devices controlled by Marusya
Marusya devices are manufactured by VK. As with Sber’s solutions, protecting children from unwanted content can only be activated manually. Available two options. The first – “Child mode” – is suitable for cases when the speaker or application is used mainly by children. In children’s mode, Marusya will not be able to access news, adult podcasts, obscene songs, and Internet searches will be limited. Child mode must be enabled for each device individually.For example, if a parent has enabled an option in the VK app, that option will not automatically be enabled on the smart speaker.
The second option that allows you to limit dangerous content is the “Know Children” function of “Marusya”. to recognise adult and child voice. The voice assistant will respond to the child’s request in the same way as in child mode. This function is convenient if the device is used by adults and children at the same time. Unlike the standard child mode, when connected, the option is immediately activated on all devices connected to the VK account.
There is also “Marussia” family mode. The assistant will not play adult content near a child, but parents will be able to freely listen to their favorite artists and podcasters when the child is not around. In family mode, Marusya warns in advance that the content is age-restricted and asks you to approve playback.
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Smart devices controlled by Salyut
Devices with Salyut are manufactured by Sber and work by default no restrictions: all content including 18+ is shown on request, smart ups are launched and payment is made from linked cards. Child mode must be activated manually. This can be done in an application on an Android smartphone, and on iOS by creating a PIN code and creating a voice command that you will need to remember.
Kids mode in Salyut includes restricting access to over 18 movies, apps and games, blocking music containing profanity, blocking payments with linked cards, putting YouTube in safe mode and banning the launch and download of new apps.
The popularity of virtual assistants and AI-powered devices is increasing. The largest Russian developers are aware of their responsibility for children’s access to content and pay attention to security. Each solution has its own features. For example, in Salyut, you can block purchases with linked cards and the installation of new applications. “Marusya” gives the user a choice of which devices to activate the child mode. “Alice” offers several child options.
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Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.