Outline Genre Project-Jazmyn B.

RESEARCH QUESTION: “How is AI affecting media targeted towards children and how does it harm their development?”

*This will be presented as a modern YouTube video essay.

INTRO :

How creative have you been feeling recently? Have you ever thought about making your own TV show? Your own song? Your own art piece? Well, what if I told you there’s a much faster way to do exactly that? Just ask Chatgpt to give you script/text directions, [find a free text-to-speech voice] (ironically with a tts voice)  and finally, ask AI to make the visuals.

With that, you should get a masterpiece, like this—

SHOW EXAMPLE VIDEO

That was….weird. Let’s try that again.

MORE EXAMPLE VIDEOS

As of 2024, generative AI is becoming more and more accessible to the hands of the general public. And knowing that the concept of ethics is being tossed around here and there, that can mean both good and bad.

Like I described previously, several forms of AI exist today that allow content to be produced at mass levels. While you may think that’s great, what if I told you that it’s actually stealing from original work and purposefully being used to suck the attention spans of innocent kids for quick bucks?

CLAIM: Combined with the countless devices kids have access to today, AI content targeted towards kids poses several dangers to their development and should be regulated more heavily.

BODY :

WHAT IS GENERATIVE AI?

According to the accredited management technology “McKinsey and Company”,  “Generative artificial intelligence (AI) describes algorithms (such as ChatGPT) that can be used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. Recent breakthroughs in the field have the potential to drastically change the way we approach content creation.” For anyone not interested in technology this quite literally means you ask a machine to do something, and it gives you exactly what you want—or rather, what it thinks you want. It sounds easy, in which it is—-anyone can open an application with Generative AI as a feature, no matter how small. Apple’s AI “Siri”, Samsung’s “Bixby”, and Amazon’s well-known “Alexa” all fit this category. It’s so easy even a kid could access it. In which, they do. Often. A LOT.

WHO’S BECOMING OBSESSED WITH IT? (AND SCREEN TIME IN GENERAL)

Introducing..an alarming majority of Generation Alpha. You probably don’t need the extra context, but if you still don’t know what I’m referring to,from Parents.com, “The term “iPad kids” describes children in Generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and today) who are seemingly addicted to screens. Generation Z, the generation born between the late 1990s and around 2010, is believed to have coined the term after observing so many kids glued to their iPads.” And while you, potential Gen Zer who is watching this, might think—”I grew up the same way” —YOU had proper educational resources and a somewhat healthier balance of technology and FRESH AIR. This generation doesn’t.

But my words alone aren’t going to prove much.

• AI advertising(Toys R Us, Coca Cola)

Advertisements are quite LITERALLY meant to attract and advertise. Although in 2024, it seems that companies aren’t beating around the bush anymore with their honesty towards consumers. As a matter of fact, some companies know how short our attention spans are getting, and that might lead them to believe they can cut corners in their marketing schemes. For example, “ToysRUs”, the beloved toy company promoting childhood imagination, posted this commercial in June 2024.

SHOW EXAMPLE

Similarly, and you may have heard of this recently, but Coca-Cola’s Christmas advertisement a week ago, made mostly with AI services.

Both of these media outlets faced major backlash for their decisions, and already were a center of controversy prior to. But then again, why would a popular company create such an unprofessional yet conveniently low-cost piece of content that doesn’t scream “we put effort into this” for the majority of their consumers to see?

• CHATGPT(kids caught using chatgpt) 

I think it’s fairly obvious one of the major reasons generative AI’s being used is for   

School. While I do believe in making tasks easier for yourself and that sometimes homework seems useless, how else are you gonna make sure you’re remembering what you learn? Education isn’t something to cheat around with, and if you’re going to use it to write an entire essay for yourself, you should at least try not to get caught or have a good reason for doing so. Data from the Center of Democracy and Technology proves there’s been an increase in the use of AI in assignments, rightfully alongside an increase in punishment for the use of AI. Educators mostly agree that they’ve become more distrustful of the work they’re seeing and are willing to implement harsher punishment for it. In any case, it’s really not worth the risk to over rely on technology like this, as kids are dampening their own critical thinking and problem solving skills.

• YOUTUBE AI CONTENT FARMS (a subject on its own, honestly)

The topic of what Youtube allows kids to see on their own platform is honestly its own topic. However, to summarize, YouTube, the internet giant, has interesting rules towards AI content being published on its platform—This leads to anyone with wifi and slightly bad intentions to get away with shady things. Targeting kids for money is just one of them. With thousands of short tutorials on “getting rich in 20 minutes” and “make faceless channels with no skills required”, it seems as if modern childhood education is slowly becoming a cash grab opportunity. From WIRED’s article “Your kid may already be watching ai generated videos on youtube”, Kate Knibbs explains  whopping majority of youtube channels are including generative AI into their creative process, purposely making videos longer, and putting word salads to lure kids in and make sure they’re watching their content for extended periods of time. It’s believed that these bootleg creators are trying to leech off the success of already existent channels like “Cocomelon” or “Gracie’s Corner”, only to put out loud noises, ugly visuals, and potential misinformation. With this in mind, parents are deeply concerned that YouTube isn’t as ready to face the issue as they say they are, only requiring as little as an optional label under the video to let you know the video is AI generated. Not that younger kids would know what that would mean in the first place.

• AI IN SOCIAL MEDIA  (deepfakes/art generation)

One last factor I’d like to discuss is the rise of AI in social media. Social media isn’t a stranger to anyone, and having mobile technology is basically a one way ticket to it. It comes in many forms, and allows all sorts of content the chance to be seen by hundreds, thousands, and millions. If you haven’t already personalized your algorithm (in other words what a social media app is supposed to be showing you when you use it) you, along with many impressionable users are bound to see…strange things. While I’m not gonna go into that too much, a popular example of this is TikTok, one of the most popular social media apps in the world. However, it isn’t immune to AI-garbage. Tiktok features many instances of generative AI, and doesn’t hold back when showing it to anyone, including kids. These short videos have little to no polish and feature repetitive content, all of which is being seen by a large audience. They also have the potential to promote and glorify certain things like eating disorders and unrealistic beauty standards. Like YouTube, Tiktok mostly does try to use their moderation to try and place a label on content like this, you have to ask what is this realistically doing? In my opinion, a nearly transparent button isn’t going to stop gullible kids from looping these kinds of videos for hours at a time. 

• The ACTUAL effect it has on kids

Even with my jokes about this subject, let me convince you that this kind of problem isn’t a joking matter. There are a lot of mental, emotional, and social downsides for younger audiences who watch this type of content, and kids who spend too much time online in general. Kids can’t read at levels they’re supposed to. They have little to no sense of empathy, unable to understand what to do when faced with certain situations. And lastly, their developmental priorities are all other the place, a troubling majority of them focused more on age-reducing creams and screens than phonics or spelling. Overall the lack of proper content for them prevents them from making friendships and real life experiences—something everyone should probably have.

• How does Generative AI hurt our environment?

The last thing I want to briefly bring up is the environment. As it turns out, not only is generative AI polluting the minds of future generations, but the space they’re going to grow up in. To be specific, according to Harvard Business Review, “The training process for a single AI model, such as an LLM, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon.” Also, “AI model training can also lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of freshwater into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection, potentially exacerbating stress on our already limited freshwater resources.” As technology advances, you can most likely expect all of that to worsen. This means that If we want to at least try and preserve the world around us, something’s got to be done to regulate the products from generative AI. 

CONCLUSION :

To conclude, I’m gonna say right now that I don’t expect you to fully stop using AI. It’s becoming so ingrained in our lives that we might not even realize we’re using it. It’s not to say that all developing AI is terrible. In fact, in the medical and business fields, AI is allowing a lot of advancements. These are all examples of how great they can be when monitored. Aka with good morals in mind.

To me, most if not all of the problems with AI software have a lot to do with ethics.  Just because you can do things on your devices with a tap of your fingers, just because you can make inappropriate content and portray to a gullible audience, should you do that? Why would you do that? Money? Popularity? Just because you feel like it? If you for some weird reason ever find yourself questioning that, just remind yourself that that same IPAD addicted, tantrum throwing generation might actually end up contributing to the future one day. And if you had even just a little bit of hope, you might want that same generation to be educated—”properly”. In other words, children need fellow people to guide them. There’s no way artificial intelligence could do the same thing people have dedicated their entire lives to do.

Finally, art/design/writing are all things that need to be controlled and created by humans. Asking a machine to attempt to replicate genuine emotion and teach your children is hypocritical. It occupies several jobs that passionate and REAL people deserve. One way you could contribute is if you have a younger sibling, maybe try to keep an eye more on what they’re watching on the daily; Do less of that assignment with CHATGPT and more thinking with your brain; Maybe don’t spend hours generating pictures of what you might look like with this filter, or that dream car. Either way, the little things count. With that being said, I hope this video was able to educate you about the dangers of generative AI in general and what it can do to young children.

(Thanks for watching)