When I answered this, I was going off the first green box that says le and les are not used for inanimate objects. But isn't this question asking for the word for "them"? Which are animate objects?

Hola Jamie This question is asking for the word for "them", which, like you said, it refers to animate objects (people), therefore it needs "les". In the lesson it says that you cannot use le-les for inanimate objects. I hope this clarified your doubt. Inma