Opportunities and challenges of using socially intelligent agents: increasing interaction and school participation for children suffering from a long-term illness
Open accessAbstract
Purpose: Children suffering from cancer or cardiovascular disease, who need extended periods of treatment in hospitals, are subjected to multiple hardships apart from the physical implications, for example, experienced isolation and disrupted social and academic development. This has negative effects long after the child's recovery from the illness. The purpose of this paper is to examine the non-medical needs of children suffering from a long-term illness, as well as research the field of artificial intelligence (AI) – more specifically, the use of socially intelligent agents (SIAs) – in order to study how technology can enhance children's interaction, participation and quality of life. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews were performed with experts in three fields: housing manager for hospitalized children, a professor in computing science and researcher in AI, and an engineer and developer at a tech company. Findings: It is important for children to be able to take control of the narrative by using an SIA to support the documentation of their period of illness, for example. This could serve as a way of processing emotions, documenting educational development or keeping a reference for later in life. The findings also show that the societal benefits of AI include automating mundane tasks and recognizing patterns. Originality/value: The originality of this study concerns the holistic approach of increasing the knowledge and understanding of these children's specific needs and challenges, particularly regarding their participation and interaction with teachers and friends at school, using an SIA.
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Socially intelligent agents can address nonmedical needs in pediatric populations by reducing feelings of isolation, supporting coping, and facilitating participation in daily activities.
“Mårell-Olsson et al [44] demonstrated that socially intelligent agents can address nonmedical needs in pediatric populations by reducing feelings of isolation, supporting coping, and facilitating participation in daily activities.”
From Empathic AI for Patient-Centered Cancer Care: A Scoping Review of Patient Navigation, Support, and Clinical Practice (2026) · cites this paper as [44]
The Introduction and Discussion and conclusions identify isolation and school participation as nonmedical concerns for children with long-term illness. The paper also proposes SIAs as possible support for interaction and healthy coping. But its evidence comes from expert interviews, not a demonstration that SIAs reduced isolation or improved coping and daily participation in children; the Discussion says the small study cannot support generalizations. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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Child-Centered AI for Empowering Creative and Inclusive Learning Experiences
Ragone, G., Ali, S. A., Esposito, A., Good, J., Howland, K., & Presicce, C. (2024) · Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference · doi:10.1145/3628516.3661157 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
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“Likewise, Mårell-Olsson et al [44] demonstrated that socially intelligent agents can address nonmedical needs in pediatric populations by reducing feelings of isolation, supporting coping, and facilitating participation in daily activities.”
- Authors
- Mårell-Olsson, E., Mejtoft, T., Tovedal, S., & Söderström, U.
- Affiliations
- Umeå University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Mårell-Olsson, Eva
- Venue
- The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2021-08-10
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 393-411
- ISSN
- 2056-4880 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3190508212
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Information and Learning Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Keywords
- socially intelligent agents, childhood cancer, cardiovascular disease, social isolation, school participation, narrative control, emotional processing, educational documentation, quality of life, artificial intelligence in education, hospitalized children
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