Korea University of Engineering and Technology Outlines AI Uses in Early Childhood Care

Exploring Applications in Education and Care Settings at SLW 2026

A research team led by Professor Park Geoncheol of the School of Business Administration at Korea University of Engineering and Technology said on October 12 that it had held the "Forum on AI Companions for Young Children" to discuss development directions and safety standards for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies used in early childhood education and care settings.

Professor Park Geoncheol of Korea Engineering University presents directions for developing AI companions to support young children's social and emotional development at "SLW 2026." Korea Engineering University.

The "Forum on AI Companions for Young Children" was held on October 6 at COEX in Seoul as part of Smart Life Week (SLW) 2026, a global smart city and AI event hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Organized by Korea University of Engineering and Technology, the forum was held as part of a project under the Future Frontier Convergence Science and Technology Development Program, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea. It aimed to establish development and use guidelines for AI companions intended for early childhood education and care.

An AI companion for young children is an artificial intelligence technology that understands a child's words and situation and carries on a conversation accordingly. For example, when a child talks about what happened during the day or how they felt, the AI responds in a way that reflects what the child said. Through these interactions, the technology aims to support children's social and emotional development, including helping them build the ability to express their feelings and communicate with others.

Experts in AI technology and early childhood education and care took part in the forum to discuss the technology development directions, policies, safety standards, and conditions for implementation needed to introduce AI companions in real-world settings.

The forum featured three presentations, followed by a panel discussion and a question-and-answer session.

In the presentations, Professor Park Geoncheol of Korea University of Engineering and Technology introduced development directions for AI companion technology for young children and plans to test it in early childhood education and care settings. Professor Hwang Inseok of Pohang University of Science and Technology presented on learning environments tailored to young children's daily lives. Professor Lee Bangsil of Osan University then outlined standards for trustworthy AI companions in early childhood education and care settings.

After the presentations, experts took part in a panel discussion and exchanged views on safety and reliability considerations for interactions between AI companions and young children, as well as ways to use the technology for educational purposes.

Professor Park Geoncheol emphasized, "It is important to develop AI companions for young children with consideration for their developmental characteristics and everyday conversational contexts, so that they can be used safely in early childhood education and care settings."

Based on the expert opinions presented at the forum, Professor Park Geoncheol plans to advance the development and testing of AI companions for young children and draw up guidelines for their future use.

This research is part of a project under the Future Frontier Convergence Science and Technology Development Program, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea. Titled "Situation-Centered AI Companions for Young Children: Developing and Testing AI Models That Talk Like Friends to Support Children's Social and Emotional Development," the project is led by Korea University of Engineering and Technology, with Sungshin Women's University, Aijoha, Vision21 Tech, and AI Leader participating as co-research institutions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.