I-Corps: Artificially Intelligent Dialogic Reading Aid

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impacts/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tool that caregivers and early educators can use to enhance the learning impacts of reading with young children. This technology is important because one in every three children begins kindergarten insufficiently prepared to learn to read. Not only are these early reading differences associated with individual children's academic, economic, and health outcomes, but they also have implications at the national level. By some estimates, low levels of adult literacy may cost the United States $2.2 trillion annually in lost personal income, lower employment, poorer health, and weaker overall economic growth. The primary goal of this project is to develop a reading tool that can help mitigate these negative outcomes. Successful development and commercialization of the tool is expected to promote children's school readiness and early literacy, which lays at the foundation for: 1) greater academic success, 2) higher rates of high school graduation, 3) improved financial and health outcomes. and 4) substantial economic and social benefits at the national level. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an AI tool that will facilitate active conversational engagement, as opposed to passive listening, in the context of joint book reading. The technology generates story-specific prompts at opportune times during a shared reading session for adults to use as conversation starters. Users will be able to select the difficulty level and content of prompts to accommodate the skills, goals, and interests of individual readers. The technology will also be able to operate in any language, thereby maximizing potential reach. Extensive interviews will generate data from both end-users and potential distributors to guide the development and commercialization strategies for this early literacy intervention tool. These interviews will focus on three customer segments: 1) parents of young children (especially those facing socioeconomic, linguistic, or health-related challenges), 2) early education stakeholders (e.g., preschool teachers, libraries, and other literacy-focused non-profit organizations and government agencies), and 3) children's literature publishers and retailers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.