AI Book Maker
Exploratory Research on Generative AI, Children, and Social–Emotional Learning (SEL)
Research Motivation
Generative AI has lowered the barriers to creative production, making it possible for children to create stories and interactive experiences with minimal technical skill. This project explores what children learn through AI-assisted creation, with a focus on creativity, emotional expression, and social–emotional learning (SEL).
Research Questions
- How do children conceptualize authorship and ownership when stories are co-created with AI?
- How does AI-assisted storytelling influence emotional expression, reflection, and empathy?
- How do children form mental models of generative AI through repeated interaction?
Prototype Concept
AI Book Maker is a prototype that supports children (ages 5–10) in co-creating stories with a generative model. The system is designed as a creative scaffold: children lead the narrative decisions while AI provides suggestions, variations, and prompts for emotional exploration.
Preliminary Observations
Early sessions suggest children often treat the AI as a collaborative partner, using it to iterate quickly on characters and scenarios. This enables rapid exploration of emotions and consequences, but also raises questions about dependency, agency, and how children attribute creative credit.
Risks & Ethics
Key concerns include privacy and consent when working with children, the risk of over-trust in AI suggestions, and potential bias or inappropriate content generation. This project treats safety and transparency as first-class design requirements.
Future Work
Next steps include structured observational studies, qualitative coding of children's interaction patterns, and experiments comparing AI-assisted creation to traditional non-AI storytelling. Future iterations will explore guardrails, parental/educator controls, and evaluation metrics aligned with SEL outcomes.