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Building to Understand: Examining Teens' Technical and Socio-Ethical Pieces of Understandings in the Construction of Small Generative Language Models

Luis Morales-Navarro, Daniel J. Noh, Lucianne Servat, Carly Netting, Yasmin B. Kafai, Danaé Metaxa

Abstract

The rising adoption of generative AI/ML technologies increases the need to support teens in developing AI/ML literacies. Child-computer interaction research argues that construction activities can support young people in understanding these systems and their implications. Recent exploratory studies demonstrate the feasibility of engaging teens in the construction of very small generative language models (LMs). However, it is unclear how constructing such models may foster the development of teens' understanding of these systems from technical and socio-ethical perspectives. We conducted a week-long participatory design workshop in which sixteen teenagers constructed very small LMs to generate recipes, screenplays, and songs. Using thematic analysis, we identified technical and socio-ethical pieces of understandings that teens exhibited while designing generative LMs. This paper contributes (a) evidence of the kinds of pieces of understandings that teens have when constructing LMs and (b) a theory-backed framing to study novices' understandings of AI/ML systems.

Building to Understand: Examining Teens' Technical and Socio-Ethical Pieces of Understandings in the Construction of Small Generative Language Models

Abstract

The rising adoption of generative AI/ML technologies increases the need to support teens in developing AI/ML literacies. Child-computer interaction research argues that construction activities can support young people in understanding these systems and their implications. Recent exploratory studies demonstrate the feasibility of engaging teens in the construction of very small generative language models (LMs). However, it is unclear how constructing such models may foster the development of teens' understanding of these systems from technical and socio-ethical perspectives. We conducted a week-long participatory design workshop in which sixteen teenagers constructed very small LMs to generate recipes, screenplays, and songs. Using thematic analysis, we identified technical and socio-ethical pieces of understandings that teens exhibited while designing generative LMs. This paper contributes (a) evidence of the kinds of pieces of understandings that teens have when constructing LMs and (b) a theory-backed framing to study novices' understandings of AI/ML systems.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 40 sections, 4 figures, 3 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Engaging Young People in the Construction of Generative Language Models
  4. Model Building as a Sociotechnical Activity
  5. Young People's Understanding of AI/ML
  6. Attributions framing
  7. Functional framing
  8. Intuitive Theories
  9. Misconceptions
  10. Critical framing
  11. An In-Pieces Approach
  12. Methods
  13. Context and Participants
  14. Research Approach and Positionality
  15. Workshop Activities
  16. ...and 25 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Workshop activities by day.
  • Figure 2: Screenshots of the TV Meals recipe generator designed by Dunkin Lover and Darwin (left) and the Transformer Script generator designed by Meow Meow, Gregory, and Jimmy Bob (right).
  • Figure 3: Connections between technical pieces (blue edges), connections between socio-ethical pieces (red edges), and connections between a technical and a socio-ethical pieces (purple edges).
  • Figure 4: Examples of connected technical pieces (left), connected socio-ethical pieces (center), and the connection between a technical and a socio-ethical pieces (right).