Finnish 5th and 6th grade students' pre-instructional conceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) and their implications for AI literacy education

Mertala, Pekka; Fagerlund, Janne; Calderón, Óscar Alberto Aguirre

doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100095

Cited by 40 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…It should be also noted that the data fails to tell much about the foundations of the misconceptions. While our findings imply that conceptual connotations, media representations, and hands-on experiences with AI solutions like voice assistants have a role in students misconceptionsan interpretation supported by previous research (e.g., Cave et al, 2020;Mertala, 2019;Mertala et al, 2022)more research is needed to verify (or confront) these observations. When making conclusions based on our findings, it is important to note that placing the focus on misconceptions tells only a partial tale about the variety of conceptions the students had.…”

Section: Limitations and Suggestions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…On the other hand, anthropomorphism can also signal a conceptual misconception that draws from limited (conscious) experiences of and narrow focus on AI. Children often name voice assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa as an AI application they are familiar with (Kim et al, 2023;Kreisens & Schultz, 2021;Mertala et al, 2022)a theme that was echoed in our data as well: "There are many types of AIs, for example Apple phones have an AI called Siri" (Student 24*).…”

Section: Anthropomorphic Aimentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Such a view can be further conceptualized as an anthropomorphic misconception, which refers to the attribution of distinctively human-like feelings, mental states, or behavioral characteristics to inanimate objects (Airenti, 2015;Epley et al, 2007). This is a common finding in research on children's (mis)conceptions of AI (Kim et al, 2023;Kreinsen & Schultz, 2021;Mertala et al, 2022) and digital technology in general (Rucker & Pinkwart, 2016;Robertson et al, 2018).…”

Section: Background: Misconceptions (About Ai)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, anthropomorphic misconception could be a conceptual misconception (Davis, 1997) that arises from limited experience and narrow focus (Harlen & Qualter, 2018) on specific features of AI. Children commonly name personal voice assistants like Siri and Alexa as an example of an AI they are aware or have experience of (Kim et al, 2023;Kreinsen & Schultz, 2021;Mertala et al, 2022). They most likely encounter numerous other AI solutions in their daily life (e.g., smart phones camera) but are not aware of the presence of AI in these applicationsa common finding in studies done with adults (Selwyn et al, 2022;Zhang & Dafoe, 2020).…”

Section: Background: Misconceptions (About Ai)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, clearly informing students about the fictitiousness behind the conceptions of non-technological AI or anthropomorphic AI should not be held redundant but perhaps even as core elements in introductory AI education. Especially becoming aware of media influences seems a meaningful starting point (see also Mertala et al, 2022). Further along, it seems vital to acquire a more in-depth understanding regarding how AI systems actually work, for instance, by becoming familiar with concrete methods of machine learning (and teaching a machine) (see Vartiainen et al, 2021).…”

Section: Pedagogical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Finnish 5th and 6th graders’ misconceptions about Artificial Intelligence

Mertala¹,

Fagerlund²

2023

Preprint

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Research on children’s initial conceptions of AI is in an emerging state, which, from a constructivist viewpoint, challenges the development of pedagogically sound AI-literacy curricula, methods, and materials. To contribute in resolving this need in the present paper, qualitative survey data from 195 children were analyzed abductively to answer the following three research questions: What kind of misconceptions do Finnish 5th and 6th graders’ have about AI?; 2) How do these misconceptions relate to common misconception types?; and 3) How profound are these misconceptions? As a result, three misconception categories were identified: 1) Non-technological AI, in which AI was conceptualized as peoples’ cognitive processes (factual misconception); 2) Anthropomorphic AI, in which AI was conceptualized as a human-like entity (vernacular, non-scientific, and conceptual misconception); and 3) AI as a machine with a pre-installed intelligence or knowledge (factual misconception). Majority of the children evaluated their AI-knowledge low, which implies that the misconceptions are more superficial than profound. The findings suggest that context-specific linguistic features can contribute to students' AI misconceptions. Implications for future research and AI literacy education are discussed.

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Section: Limitations and Suggestions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Anthropomorphic Aimentioning

confidence: 79%