AI is increasingly weaving into the fabric of digital childhoods, shaping how kids learn, play, think, behave, and interact with the world. This shift opens up opportunities to design AI that's easy and fun to use , and more importantly, that's considerate of who children really are and what they need. Here are eight principles we use at FINH when designing AI experiences for children.
01. Support intuitive self-expression
AI products and experiences must allow children to express their ideas in a natural, intuitive manner , leveraging physical, visual, and digital inputs. A dance, a doodle, a song, a Lego figure.
02. Enhance a child's organic rhythms
AI must exist and function within a family's daily rhythms, making the job of parents and children a little easier and a lot more joyful , from breakfast to bedtime, from quiet time to learning time.
03. Create magical and joyful moments
AI interfaces must creatively respond to imaginative queries, maintaining engagement and wonder by blending real capabilities with imaginative responses that surprise and delight.
04. Be carefully personable
AI interfaces must reciprocate emotional engagement through careful anthropomorphism , friendly and pleasant, but never addictive or forcing codependency.
05. Be transparent and honest
AI interfaces must demystify the inner workings and intent of the system, communicating clear boundaries between technology and child, fostering trust and confidence in both its capabilities and its limitations.
06. Provide breakable boundaries
AI products must exist within flexible guidelines , an environment where rules can be followed, and boundaries can be redefined as a child's natural curiosity brings them to explore the edges of what's possible.
07. Connect to the physical world
AI interactions must create a functional sense of connection to a world beyond the screen, encouraging interaction with people and objects, engaging all of a child's senses through tangible play.
08. Include all other intelligences
AI experiences must include all stakeholders in the life of a child , friends, parents, teachers, carers , promoting social connection rather than isolation.