AI Characters and Children

Children’s media is changing again. After television, streaming and games, AI is bringing a new kind of character into the room: one that can respond. A talking character is no longer just a scripted voice in a cartoon or a game. With generative AI, it can answer a child, adapt to a prompt and keep the conversation going. That makes the experience more flexible, but also harder to judge. In this AImpactful conversation, Branislava Lovre speaks with Sonia Tiwari, a children’s media researcher whose work focuses on creative learning and ethical AI character design for young audiences. Her recent research looks at AI tutors, smart toys and child-facing AI characters, including what makes them developmentally appropriate. Sonia asks practical questions: What is the child supposed to learn? Is the interaction guided or open-ended? How long does it last? That difference runs through the episode. AI tutors can help when they guide children through a problem instead of simply giving them the answer. Open-ended AI companions are different, especially when they encourage long conversations or emotional attachment. Branislava and Sonia also talk about foundational skills, parent dashboards, session time, creative ownership, deepfakes, synthetic characters and why AI literacy for children now has to include a very simple warning: not every image, voice or video is real. We believe in practicing what we talk about, using AI openly and responsibly. We used AI to help prepare this episode’s introduction, transcript, and production process, always under human supervision before publication. When we use AI, we tell you. Transparency matters to us. What we explore: How children’s media is changing with AI characters The difference between AI tutors and AI companions Why clear learning goals and limits matter How parents and teachers can evaluate child-facing AI tools What “developmentally appropriate” means in AI character design Creative ownership and AI-generated stories Deepfakes, synthetic characters and AI literacy for children Why AI should stay a small, intentional part of children’s media experience Episode details: Duration: 26 minutes Guest: Sonia Tiwari, children’s media researcher and founder of Oki Pie Lab Host: Branislava Lovre, co-founder of AImpactful #aicharacters #ailiteracy #ethicalai #aieducation #generativeai #responsibleai #aimedia #aimpactful