THE INNOVATIVE KID-FRIENDLY APP USING AI TO PROMOTE POSITIVE MENTAL WELLBEING

Trailblazing A2Z sci-fi podcast and accompanying AI app to launch in April

 A ground-breaking new kid-friendly app that uses AI to foster mental wellbeing and encourage positive media habits among kids is set for release on 18 April 2024.

Designed with input from a team of psychologists and experts in child development and mental health, the AI app, called ‘Aileen’, is integrated with a ten-part, comedy sci-fi adventure drama podcast, A2Z, written by former comic book Laureate, Hannah Berry.

Built specifically for children ages 7-10, the Aileen app is fun for kids curious about AI, promotes healthy media habits, and offers subtle wellbeing messaging. It has robust age-appropriate guardrails in place, including monitoring and use of a version of ChatGPT that is not web connected.

It is the only app on the market that offers a healthy, highly-curated, ChatGPT AI experience featuring pop-out activities which invite kids off their devices and into the real-world, along with story-based games, quests and conversations.

A2Z is the brainchild of Rezilience Ltd, the award-winning team behind the hit children’s podcast, The Rez, headed up by Dr Lance Dann and Prof Martin Spinelli.

Lance, who is also a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton,  says: “We are living in a world where technology is engrained in all our lives, so we know we can’t just cut children off from media, but what we can do is create positive media experiences that actively model and reinforce healthy relationships and instil good media habits. The podcast and app draw kids into an adventure story that is silly and fun, but which gives them a reason to break away from the screen and try things in the real world.”

Both have grown increasingly concerned at the mental health emergency facing children in the UK with recent research from NHS England showing that one in five children and young people now have a probable mental health disorder. Like many parents, Lance and Martin feel that children’s media consumption is, in part, to blame.

They have developed the app using latest child development research* and input from a team which includes child psychologist and ‘Professor of Kindness’, Robin Banerjee from the University of Sussex.

The app is structured into missions aligned with each A2Z podcast episode. The story kicks-off with listeners being introduced to the character Zzzucks, who they learn has just invented a new AI called Aileen.

Zzzucks faces various social challenges and, wanting to help out her inventor, Aileen turns to the kids listening and asks them to meet her over on the app where she gathers their insights to help Zzzucks be happier and more fulfilled.

After each interaction on the app, Aileen sets the kids a mission to actively engage in real-world activities, thoughtfully crafted to cultivate positive emotions and life skills, such as creating a happiness jar, learning something new with an adult's guidance, or expressing gratitude by making a surprise thank you card.

After completing each mission, kids then return to the app for a debrief with Aileen to discuss what they did and how it might help them socially and emotionally. They are rewarded with games, comic strips, and animations, themed around the A2Z podcast and designed by leading comic book artists, before being guided to the next mission or episode.

Each of the activities has been developed in collaboration with the School of Kindness, part of the 52 Lives charity, with the aim of fostering curiosity, kindness, empathy, and healthy media diets.

Both Lance and Martin have each have struggled over the years to get their own kids to have healthier relationships with screens.

Martin, a youth media expert and the UK’s first Professor of Podcasting, says: “As a parent, I feel that I’ve been fighting a multi-billion dollar industry designed to keep our children tapping screens and pressing buttons in highly addictive ways and it’s extremely difficult to find alternatives.”

Both are also realistic enough to know that they won’t be able to solve a problem of such complexity on their own, but hope that, by offering an alternative, they can draw out the more positive aspects of children’s media.

Martin adds: “I know it might seem counterintuitive for us to create a new app for kids, but we have to be pragmatic and there are lots of good aspects to digital media.  With the A2Z project we aim to identify and celebrate those positive ways of relating to devices as well as encouraging kids to take a break from them.”

Lance adds: “As Bill Gates said, ‘the key thing is that the good guys have better AIs than the bad guys’ and that is what we are trying to achieve with Aileen. Kids are the vanguards of change so are naturally going to be a part of this rapidly emerging technology and our goal is to ensure they use it responsibly and have a healthy relationship to AI.”

The A2Z podcast will be distributed internationally by the leading children’s podcast network Gen-Z Media and can be found on your favourite podcast platform.  The app is free to download from both the App Store and Google Play Store. The app offers its first two missions free and remaining activities, content and missions can be unlocked for a small, one-off, early-access fee of £1.75.