"Hey Curio, Can You Tell Me More?": Children’s Information-Seeking and Trust in AI

Curio is an anthropomorphic cartoon cat, and 22 kids got to ask it questions at home for two weeks. The researchers watched what children went looking for, when they endorsed an answer, and whether accuracy changed their willingness to keep chatting. A classroom know-it-all, now in a very approachable cat costume.

My three HCI takeaways: working with children means careful human-subjects research, a system has to behave consistently if people are going to understand it, and the way Curio presents itself shapes whether kids treat it like a playful chatbot or a trusted teacher. Cute ears are still an interface decision.