Smart Phone, Smart Home, Smarter Kid and Ever learning Mom
Its been good five years that I have been a Mom. Yes, My star has completed five years on November 30th. Not a day goes by where I don't know whether to laugh or cry about a moment or I have not learned anything new. Today was no exception.
So in the device/technology dominated world, I am continuously trying to shield my lil'l one as much as possible from early exposure of screens and handling of these devices. This is an attempt to delay the inevitable, because I am sure knowing & understanding technology is not optional for the kid in future. So kid will do all it takes to learn and master it..And I din't have to wait long for the proof...
Lil'l one continuously keeps surprising me with her skills of observation. At age of three where never once she was given phone in her hand before when she lay her hands on one she exactly knew what was to be done with the device. And believe it, she handled both Android and iPhone very well for this experiment :)
Today afternoon, it was no less than a shock for me when I heard conversation going on with Alexa(It is a home automation device by Amazon) and my lil'l one. For my multiple experiments with Alexa of simulation of human interaction, I have tried and used the tone of conversation and same method was adopted by her. (And this was after she plugged the device, we keep it disconnected when not in use)
First question was one of my usual....Whats the whether today? And then she asked to play some of her Rhymes. Santa Claus is tune of the town these days. Now after 5 mins or so, Alexa couldn't keep up with changing mind of five year old and lost a track of songs being requested. Meanwhile kid in the spirit of having normal conversation with Alexa started telling it stop and play and stop....It finally reached a familiar stage wherein I could here kid pleading like this....Please stop Alexa...Please stop...Listen ;)
Finally I intervened when whole of this drama reached a stage on the verge of tears, by that time my daughter started complaining about Alexa 'not listening' to her and I had to explain to her that it's a machine and it is learning. And first and foremost you call its name and then talk to it. Like Alexa, stop. And NOT Stop Alexa.
(Don't worry if you don't get this, I have repeatedly seen people doing this, it happens with me as well sometimes ;) )
Note: All these smart assistants like Alexa, Siri are keywords to activate the device for further action. In some cases, you can name the device of your own choice.
So, there were tears and a lot of laughter. And ever learning mother deciding on her best way forward whether human should understand machines better or machine needs to understand....
So in the device/technology dominated world, I am continuously trying to shield my lil'l one as much as possible from early exposure of screens and handling of these devices. This is an attempt to delay the inevitable, because I am sure knowing & understanding technology is not optional for the kid in future. So kid will do all it takes to learn and master it..And I din't have to wait long for the proof...
Lil'l one continuously keeps surprising me with her skills of observation. At age of three where never once she was given phone in her hand before when she lay her hands on one she exactly knew what was to be done with the device. And believe it, she handled both Android and iPhone very well for this experiment :)
Today afternoon, it was no less than a shock for me when I heard conversation going on with Alexa(It is a home automation device by Amazon) and my lil'l one. For my multiple experiments with Alexa of simulation of human interaction, I have tried and used the tone of conversation and same method was adopted by her. (And this was after she plugged the device, we keep it disconnected when not in use)
First question was one of my usual....Whats the whether today? And then she asked to play some of her Rhymes. Santa Claus is tune of the town these days. Now after 5 mins or so, Alexa couldn't keep up with changing mind of five year old and lost a track of songs being requested. Meanwhile kid in the spirit of having normal conversation with Alexa started telling it stop and play and stop....It finally reached a familiar stage wherein I could here kid pleading like this....Please stop Alexa...Please stop...Listen ;)
Finally I intervened when whole of this drama reached a stage on the verge of tears, by that time my daughter started complaining about Alexa 'not listening' to her and I had to explain to her that it's a machine and it is learning. And first and foremost you call its name and then talk to it. Like Alexa, stop. And NOT Stop Alexa.
(Don't worry if you don't get this, I have repeatedly seen people doing this, it happens with me as well sometimes ;) )
Note: All these smart assistants like Alexa, Siri are keywords to activate the device for further action. In some cases, you can name the device of your own choice.
So, there were tears and a lot of laughter. And ever learning mother deciding on her best way forward whether human should understand machines better or machine needs to understand....
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