A new survey of around 300 youngish parents, mean age 33, has found almost two-thirds worried they’re spending so much time distracted by electronic devices that their children’s development may be at risk.
However, the same ratio is willing to use AI-based virtual coaches for keeping their attention free of such “technoference” and appropriately focused on kids aged 5 and younger.
The survey was conducted at Stanford and is described in a report published March 15 in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
The findings also showed the parents dealing with a mean of 3.03 devices daily.
The parents’ self-perceptions of tech overuse was more likely to open them to AI coaching than their awareness of technoference in general.
The personal perceptions also outweighed sociodemographic factors like parent age, sex, language, ethnicity, educational attainment and family income.
“AI-based tools may be acceptable to use as coaching aids to help a wide sociodemographic range of parents improve their attentiveness while caring for their young children, especially in the face of technoference from their own use of mobile devices,” write Jill Glassman, MSW, PhD, Lee Sanders, MD, and co-authors. “Designers and developmental specialists should work together to develop and test AI-based tools to reduce parenting technoference, with an initial focus on younger parents.”
The study is available in full for free.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.