Storytelling is one of the richest ways children practice language, imagination, and social communication. This project studies what happens when an AI becomes the child’s storytelling partner.
Research question
How does collaborating with an AI shape children’s creativity and the way they communicate during a shared storytelling task? Does the AI scaffold new ideas, or does it shift how children take turns, build on contributions, and express themselves?
Approach
Children co-create stories with an AI partner while we analyze the creativity of the resulting narratives and the social-communicative dynamics of the interaction — turn-taking, elaboration, and responsiveness.
Why it matters
AI storytelling tools are increasingly marketed to families and classrooms. Understanding their effect on the developmental work that storytelling normally does helps ensure these tools support rather than flatten children’s creativity and communication.