Digital Assistant Abuse: Implications for Social Interaction Patterns and Child Development

This study examines digital assistant abuse—the intentional misuse of AI-powered voice interfaces—and its societal implications. Drawing from communication theory and empirical research, we analyze how abuse of these technologies may normalize disrespectful communication patterns and erode social norms. Our investigation focuses on four dimensions: technical vulnerabilities enabling abuse, developmental impacts on children, gendered design perpetuating stereotypes, and ethical implications of consequence-free negative interactions with anthropomorphized technology. Findings reveal significant concerns, including that 73.4% of confounding voice commands shared between child and adult skills prioritize adult content, potentially exposing children to inappropriate material. Despite 76.3% of parents reporting awareness of parental control features, only 29.4% implement them. We propose targeted interventions including enhanced content moderation, improved interface transparency, gender-neutral design options, and educational initiatives to promote communication patterns that positively shape social behaviors.