{"id":627882,"date":"2024-11-14T13:17:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T18:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=627882"},"modified":"2025-11-19T15:29:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T20:29:07","slug":"ai-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-children-development-learning-627882","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ai-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-children-development-learning-627882\/","title":{"rendered":"Zhen Bai: Using AI to advance child development and learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Computer scientist Zhen Bai develops technology to help kids benefit from and learn about artificial intelligence.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Can artificial intelligence-powered tools help enrich child development and learning?<\/p>\n

That question is the crux of a series of research projects led by Zhen Bai<\/a>, an assistant professor of computer science<\/a> at the University of Rochester<\/a> and the Biggar Family Fellow in Data Science at the Goergen Institute for Data Science<\/a>. From tools to help parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children learn American Sign Language (ASL) to interactive games that demystify machine learning, Bai aims to help children benefit from AI and understand how it is impacting them.<\/p>\n

Bai, an expert in human-computer interaction, believes that, despite all the concern and angst about AI, the technology has tremendous potential for good. She believes children are especially primed to benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve seen how kids get interested whenever we present technology like a conversational agent,\u201d says Bai. \u201cI feel like it would be a missed opportunity if we don\u2019t prepare the next generation to know more about AI so they can feel empowered in using the technology and are informed about the ethical issues surrounding it.\u201d<\/p>\n