The Brain, AI, and Child (BAIC) Center studies how AI chatbots and other AI systems are shaping young people’s relationships, development, and wellbeing across home, school, and online life.
What We Study
How children and adolescents form social and emotional relationships with AI chatbots and companions.
How AI language, transparency, and human-like qualities shape trust, closeness, and understanding.
How AI affects stress, support-seeking, emotional reliance, and psychological well-being.
Our research helps families, educators, policymakers, and technology leaders better understand the benefits, risks, and developmental implications of AI in young people’s lives.
At the Brain, AI, and Child (BAIC) Center, we study how AI chatbots are influencing the lives, minds, and relationships of today’s children and adolescents. Our research examines how young people understand, trust, rely on, and relate to AI and what these experiences mean for emotional well-being, social development, and mental health. Using developmental science methods, including experiments, behavioral observation, surveys, and neuroimaging, we investigate how AI transparency, emotional style, and anthropomorphic cues shape youth experiences. Our goal is to generate evidence that informs safer, developmentally appropriate practices and policies for families, educators, policymakers, and technology developers.
More About Us
Robots are increasingly implemented across diverse social contexts. Empathy is one construct that has gained focus in human-robot interaction (HRI) research.
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This project examines how teens interact in real time with AI chatbots that use either a relational style (warm, affiliative, commitment-oriented language) or a transparent style
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As conversational AI becomes more present in young people’s lives, researchers and practitioners need reliable tools to distinguish healthy use from social–emotional overreliance
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As conversational AI becomes more present in young people’s lives, researchers and practitioners need reliable tools to distinguish healthy use from social–emotional overreliance
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AI is increasingly entering young people’s social and emotional lives. Children and adolescents are not just using AI for information. They may turn to it for comfort, advice, affirmation, creativity, and companionship. Yet we still know very little about how these interactions affect development, human relationships, and well-being.
BAIC addresses this gap by bringing developmental science to one of the most pressing challenges of the AI era: understanding when AI may support young people, when it may introduce risks, and how adults and institutions can respond with evidence rather than assumptions.
SEAL is a framework for helping youth critically understand AI in social and emotional contexts. It addresses questions such as why AI can feel human, when AI may be helpful, when human support is needed, and how young people can protect their well-being, relationships, privacy, and rights.
SEAL extends traditional AI literacy by focusing on the emotional and relational dimensions of AI use, an area that is becoming increasingly important as chatbots and companion-style AI enter young people’s daily lives.
guidance for navigating children’s AI use at home
evidence for classroom, school, and youth settings
research to inform child-centered AI policy and safety conversations
evidence on on youth AI experiences,developmental risks, and wellbeing outcomes
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
The Brain, AI, and Child (BAIC) Center explores how artificial intelligence is shaping children’s development, relationships, and well-being. Our research aims to guide the creation of safer, responsible AI technologies for future generations.
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