5-6岁孩子把AI当有感知的伙伴，家长在场时大脑反应更平稳。
Young children's anthropomorphism of an AI chatbot: Brain activation and the role of parent co-presence
- 用脑成像测孩子与AI或家长共述故事时的大脑活动。
- 孩子认为家长更有人性，但对AI的感知力评价也不低。
- 家长在场可能帮助孩子更好理解并调节与AI互动的情绪。
人工智能聊天机器人正进入幼儿学习与游戏场景，但其认知机制尚不明确。本研究考察5-6岁儿童（N=23）在协作讲故事中对社交型AI聊天机器人的拟人化程度，以及行为表现与前额叶皮层激活的关系。孩子经历三种情境：仅与AI互动、仅与家长互动、以及与家长共同与AI互动。事后通过访谈评估对AI和家长的拟人化认知。行为参与度以对话轮次比（CTC）衡量，同时使用fNIRS实时测量双侧vmPFC与dmPFC区域氧合血红蛋白水平。结果显示，总体上孩子对家长的拟人化评分更高，但对AI在感知能力与知识状态方面的评分仍较高。拟人化程度与对话轮次比无显著关联。在右侧dmPFC，更高的感知拟人化评分与仅与AI互动时更强的激活相关，而在家长同在时激活降低。探索性分析发现，仅与AI互动时，dmPFC激活越高，结束时报告的“害怕”情绪也越强。结果表明，较强的感知拟人化可能对应更活跃的大脑活动以解读AI心智状态，而家长在场可能有助于部分儿童理解和调节与新型AI的互动体验。这些发现对促进亲子共同使用AI技术具有设计启示。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
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.
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