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.

翻译：生成式AI/ML技术的日益普及，愈发需要支持青少年发展AI/ML素养。儿童-计算机交互研究认为，搭建活动能够帮助年轻人理解这些系统及其影响。近期探索性研究已证明，让青少年参与搭建极小型生成式语言模型的可行性。然而，目前尚不明确搭建此类模型如何从技术与社会伦理层面促进青少年对这些系统的理解。我们开展了一项为期一周的参与式设计工作坊，十六名青少年在此过程中搭建了极小型语言模型，用于生成食谱、剧本和歌曲。通过主题分析法，我们识别出青少年在设计生成式语言模型时所展现的技术与社会伦理认知片段。本研究的贡献在于：(a) 提供了青少年搭建语言模型时所呈现的认知片段类型证据，(b) 提出了一个基于理论的框架，用于研究初学者对AI/ML系统的理解。