어린이집내 인공지능 로봇 사용경험 여부에 따른 유아의 인공지능 인식 차이

Differences in Preschool Children’s Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence according to their Experiences with AI Robots in daycare centers

Objective: This study investigated the differences in preschool children’s perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) and their distribution by latent profiles according to their experience with AI robots in daycare centers. Methods: The participants included 119 five-year-old children, 52 of whom had experience with AI robots in daycare centers and 67 of whom did not. Children’s perceptions of AI were measured using the Godspeed scale from Bartneck et al.(2009). Data were analyzed using a t-test, latent profile analysis, and chi-square test. Results: The results showed that compared to the inexperienced group, the experienced group reported lower levels of animacy and perceived intelligence of AI robots, indicating higher levels of AI knowledge and understanding. In addition, the experienced group had a higher probability of belonging to the ‘machine recognition’ type than ‘organism recognition’ type, although the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion/Implications: The findings suggest that experience with AI robots in daycare centers can improve children’s AI knowledge and understanding. To further enhance this effect, it is necessary to increase the number of robots put into classrooms, and to consider various teaching media that reflect children’s preferences.