About: The AI Reading Group from Women in AI & Robotics gives researchers a platform to share their work and highlight current research topics in AI. By creating a space for direct dialogue between researchers and the community, we aim to demystify leading innovations, provide a space for interdisciplinary discussions, and allow for deeper engagement with emerging research.

Event: AI Reading Group session with author of Doodlebot: An Educational Robot for Creativity and AI Literacy

Date: December 5, 2024

Time: 12pm EST | 9am PST | 18:00 CET

Research Paper: Doodlebot: An Educational Robot for Creativity and AI Literacy

Paper Author Affiliations: MIT Media Lab; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT

Presenters: Safinah Ali and Isabella Pu, MIT Media Lab

Safinah Ali is a PhD candidate at the Personal Robots Group within the MIT Media Lab. Her research focuses on how young children engage with AI and how it impacts their creativity. She designs and studies robotic technologies aimed at fostering creative learning. Her work includes developing child-robot interactions to support behavioral learning, including curiosity, creativity, and a growth mindset. Safinah also creates inclusive AI literacy curricula and educational materials for K-12 students and teachers. In addition to her research, she enjoys creating art, games, and robots, and teaches K-12 students about robotics and game design.

Isabella Pu is a Master’s student at the MIT Media Lab, where she researches how social robots and AI can enhance children's learning in the Personal Robots Group. She has developed robot and AI systems to teach social-emotional learning and introduce engineering and AI concepts through interactive storybooks and minigames. Her work has been published in the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication and earned her the RSJ Pioneering Research Award in Robot and Human Interactive Communication. Isabella also leads workshops and has designed curricula for high school students, empowering them to design GenAI tools and policies, and enjoys mentoring robotics, video games, and music composition.