TaleBot: A Tangible AI Companion to Support Children in Co-creative Storytelling for Resilience Cultivation

Abstract: Resilience is a key factor affecting children's mental wellbeing and future development. Yet, limited HCI research has explored how to help children build resilience through adversarial experiences. Informed by a formative study with elementary school teachers and professional psychologists, we design TaleBot, an AI-empowered system that supports children to co-create stories about overcoming everyday adversities tailored to their personal situations. We evaluated the system with 12 elementary children in school counseling rooms under teacher guidance and conducted reflective interviews with parents upon the Child-AI co-created stories. The findings show that TaleBot encourages children in self-expression of feelings and thoughts, creating opportunities for teachers to provide personalized support and for parents to better understand the profound impact of family communication on children's mental wellbeing. We conclude with design implications for using generative AI to support children's mental health education and interventions across school and family contexts.