Young children's anthropomorphism of an AI chatbot: Brain activation and the role of parent co-presence

TL;DR

This study investigates how young children anthropomorphize AI chatbots during storytelling, examining brain activation and the influence of parent presence on their perceptions and engagement.

Contribution

It provides novel insights into children's neural responses and behavioral perceptions of AI chatbots, highlighting the role of parent co-presence in shaping these interactions.

Findings

Children anthropomorphize parents more than AI chatbots.

Perceptive anthropomorphism correlates with increased dmPFC activation.

Parent co-presence influences children's interpretation and regulation of AI interactions.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots powered by a large language model (LLM) are entering young children's learning and play, yet little is known about how young children construe these agents or how such construals relate to engagement. We examined anthropomorphism of a social AI chatbot during collaborative storytelling and asked how children's attributions related to their behavior and prefrontal activation. Children at ages 5-6 (N = 23) completed three storytelling sessions: interacting with (1) an AI chatbot only, (2) a parent only, and (3) the AI and a parent together. After the sessions, children completed an interview assessing anthropomorphism toward both the AI chatbot and the parent. Behavioral engagement was indexed by the conversational turn count (CTC) ratio, and concurrent fNIRS measured oxygenated hemoglobin in bilateral vmPFC and dmPFC regions. Children reported higher anthropomorphism for parents than for the AI chatbot overall, although AI ratings were relatively high for perceptive abilities and epistemic states. Anthropomorphism was not associated with CTC. In the right dmPFC, higher perceptive scores were associated with greater activation during the AI-only condition and with lower activation during the AI+Parent condition. Exploratory analyses indicated that higher dmPFC activation during the AI-only condition correlated with higher end-of-session "scared" mood ratings. Findings suggest that stronger perceptive anthropomorphism can be associated with greater brain activation related to interpreting the AI's mental states, whereas parent co-presence may help some children interpret and regulate novel AI interactions. These results may have design implications for encouraging parent-AI co-use in early childhood.