About the Lab
The Harvard Child-Centered AI Lab advances research and design to ensure AI supports children’s learning, development, and well-being.
Led by Dr. Ying Xu, the lab conducts a range of projects examining how children interact with, experience, and learn from AI. These projects include research on language development, STEM learning, and well-being. We also identify and challenge limitations in AI technologies used in education, with the aim of making these tools more responsive and responsible to the needs of children, parents, and teachers from diverse backgrounds.
The lab adopts a two-pronged approach: we design AI technologies for authentic use contexts while also using these technologies as research tools to deepen understanding of how children learn. Insights from this work are translated into AI design principles that inform instructional strategies and educational practice, helping to clarify AI’s roles and potential in supporting children’s development.
Support
Our work is made possible by support from the National Science Foundation, the Overdeck Family Foundation, Schmidt Futures, the Gates Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
