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Early language development shapes children's later literacy and learning, yet many families have limited access to scalable, high-quality support at home. Recent advances in generative AI make it possible for social robots to move beyond…
Conversational agents (CAs) embodied in speakers or chatbots are becoming very popular in some countries, and despite their adult-centred design, they have become part of children's lives, generating a need for children-centric trustworthy…
Parent-AI collaboration to support real-time conversations with children is challenging due to the sensitivity and open-ended nature of such interactions. Existing systems often simplify collaboration into static modes, providing limited…
Teaching programming in early childhood (4-9) to enhance computational thinking has gained popularity in the recent movement of computer science for all. However, current practices ignore some fundamental issues resulting from young…
As voice-based Conversational Assistants (CAs), including Alexa, Siri, Google Home, have become commonly embedded in households, many children now routinely interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. It is important to research…
With robotics rapidly advancing, more effective human-robot interaction is increasingly needed to realize the full potential of robots for society. While spoken language must be part of the solution, our ability to provide spoken language…
Robots have great potential to facilitate future therapies for children on the autism spectrum. However, existing robots lack the ability to automatically perceive and respond to human affect, which is necessary for establishing and…
Understanding user enjoyment is crucial in human-robot interaction (HRI), as it can impact interaction quality and influence user acceptance and long-term engagement with robots, particularly in the context of conversations with social…
This paper refers to an observational research that investigates preschool children's mental representations of robots. Our hypotheses were that: a) three to six years-old children think about robots as human-like entities, concerning to…
Interactive storytelling is vital for preschooler development. While children's interactive partners have traditionally been their parents and teachers, recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked a surge of AI-based…
This work explores a group learning scenario with an autonomous empathic robot. We address two research questions: (1) Can an autonomous robot designed with empathic competencies foster collaborative learning in a group context? (2) Can an…
Recent studies have revealed that using social robots can accelerate the learning process of several skills in areas where autistic children typically show deficits. However, most early research studies conducted interactions via free play.…
Efforts towards endowing robots with the ability to speak have benefited from recent advancements in natural language processing, in particular large language models. However, current language models are not fully incremental, as their…
General-purpose conversational AI chatbots and AI companions increasingly provide young adolescents with emotionally supportive conversations, raising questions about how conversational style shapes anthropomorphism and emotional reliance.…
Generative AI (genAI) is increasingly being integrated into children's everyday lives, not only through screens but also through so-called "screen-free" AI toys. These toys can simulate emotions, personalize responses, and recall prior…
This paper reviews the current development of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for the application area of robot communication. The study of the control and operation of multiple robots collaboratively toward a common goal is fast…
Emphasizing problem formulation in AI literacy activities with children is vital, yet we lack empirical studies on their structure and affordances. We propose that participatory design involving teachable machines facilitates problem…
Dialogic learning fosters motivation and deeper understanding in education through purposeful and structured dialogues. Foundational models offer a transformative potential for child-robot interactions, enabling the design of personalized,…
Language-conditioned robot manipulation is an emerging field aimed at enabling seamless communication and cooperation between humans and robotic agents by teaching robots to comprehend and execute instructions conveyed in natural language.…
This study explores the use of AI-based feedback to enhance the counselling competence of prospective teachers. An iterative block seminar was designed, incorporating theoretical foundations, practical applications, and AI tools for…