UNICEF Guidance on AI for Children: Application to the Design of a Social Robot For and With Autistic Children

Abstract

For a period of three weeks in June 2021, we embedded a social robot (Softbank Pepper) in a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school, with a focus on supporting the well-being of autistic children. Our methodology to design and embed the robot among this vulnerable population follows a comprehensive participatory approach. We used the research project as a test-bed to demonstrate in a complex real-world environment the importance and suitability of the nine UNICEF guidelines on AI for Children. The UNICEF guidelines on AI for Children closely align with several of the UN goals for sustainable development, and, as such, we report here our contribution to these goals.