Digital Smarts - Can Artificial Intelligence Powered Media Improve Learning?

Can artificial intelligence help children participate with, and not just consume, media? And can AI conversations between online digital hosts and kids make shows more educational, especially for those kids least likely to have a grown-up watching with them? That’s what experts at the Digital Learning Lab and PBS hope to find out—with help from the animated bunny who hosts, on digital devices like laptops, tablets and smartphones, an experimental PBS program called "Elinor Wonders Why." The science themed program uses artificial intelligence to tailor the rabbit's responses to what children reply to the character’s questions and, so far in the study, this verbal exchange seems to improve learning. Researchers say, the AI capabilities -- similar to virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri -- have helped children learn, improve engagement and provided other benefits.