181 - Nomisha Kurian: Critical Hope for the Future of Children & AI

Adani chats with Nomisha Kurian, Professor in Education Studies at the University of Warwick, Associate Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and Associate at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research in Digital Education. Nomisha has been at the forefront of research on children’s safety and well-being, elucidating what it means for up-and-coming AI technologies to support children’s development and align with their best interests. She has also advised the UK Government Open Innovation Team, spearheaded policy briefs, and previously researched children’s rights law at Yale University. We discuss how a recently-viral NYT article relates to Nomisha’s frameworks for developmentally aligned AI, why we should have “critical hope” for the future, and learn more about the exciting things she’ll be releasing later this year! NYT feature – “What Parents in China See in A.I. Toys”:  https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000010595407/china-ai-toy-chatbot.html  Nomisha’s framework on developmentally aligned AI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44436-025-00009-z Nomisha’s further work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wT89nlAAAAAJ Nomisha’s children’s book: https://nosycrow.com/book/university-of-cambridge-think-big-artificial-intelligence/  Adani’s website: https://www.adaniabutto.com Adani’s Bluesky @adani Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com