SHANGHAI: A father in southern China used artificial intelligence (AI) to modify his home TV system and tackle his son’s TV addiction. The system requires the boy to answer academic questions every 10 minutes to continue watching.
His method has gone viral on mainland Chinese social media, with many parents asking him to share a tutorial on modifying their TV sets, Shenzhen TV reported.
The father, from Shenzhen, was not named in the report. He said that while he works as a taxi driver, his son, a junior secondary school student, spends a lot of time watching TV instead of focusing on his studies.
The man said he had tried the TV set’s built-in question-answering function, but his son managed to bypass it.
He also tried using a smart plug to turn off the TV at a set time. This did not discourage the boy at all – he simply unplugged the device, the father said.
In October, frustrated by his son’s excessive TV watching, the father turned to an AI app, which advised him to develop a “question-answering key” programme.
The AI tool soon created the programme. The father worked with the AI to improve it before installing it on the TV.
While the boy is watching TV, a screen displaying a question about Chinese, mathematics or English pops up every 10 minutes. The questions are tailored to his progress at school.
If the boy answers incorrectly, he has to try an extra question. He can resume watching TV only after answering correctly.
The father said he was surprised that the boy actually enjoyed solving the problems. He plans to increase their difficulty.
The father’s novel approach to tackling his son’s TV addiction has captured the interest of many parents whose children have similar habits.
Some parents have asked the father for details about the programme. He said he needed a few more days to complete a tutorial, as he had to account for the different safety and privacy settings of various TV sets.
He said he created the programme not to ban his son from watching TV altogether. Instead, he hoped the interaction would become an “attack-and-defence game” between them.
“He is allowed to use various ways to break my system, and I will try my best to fix the holes. Isn’t this a learning process for both of us?” the father asked.
“I will be glad if my boy finds his own way to deal with these challenges,” he added.
The use of AI in family education has become increasingly common in China in recent years.
Among these tools are “AI private tutors”, which are popular with young students because they teach in an engaging way.
In August, a 13-year-old girl in Shanghai developed an AI product to help parents supervise their children’s study habits. The product won third prize at a national AI marketing competition. - South China Morning Post
