Meet Noora: Your New AI Friend Who Helps You Make Friends!
(Published by Stanford University on August 13, 2025)
Imagine having a super smart friend who’s always there to help you understand tricky social situations, like knowing when to share your toys or how to join in a game. Well, guess what? Scientists at Stanford University have created just that! They’ve built a special kind of computer helper, called an AI social coach, and its name is Noora.
What’s an AI?
AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. Think of it like giving a computer a brain! But instead of a squishy brain like ours, it’s made of super-fast computer code. This AI brain can learn, understand, and even help us with things. Noora is an AI designed to be a helpful friend.
Who is Noora for?
Noora is especially designed to help children and grown-ups who have autism. Autism is a difference in how some people’s brains work. Sometimes, people with autism find it a little harder to understand social cues, like reading facial expressions or knowing what other people might be thinking or feeling. This can make making friends and joining in social activities a bit challenging.
How does Noora work?
Noora isn’t a robot you can hug! It’s more like a super-smart program that you can talk to or interact with on a computer or tablet. Here’s how it’s been helping:
- Practicing Conversations: Noora can have pretend conversations with you. It can ask you questions, and you can practice answering them. It can also give you tips on how to start a conversation or how to keep it going. It’s like practicing for a play, but for making friends!
- Understanding Feelings: Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if someone is happy, sad, or angry just by looking at them. Noora can help you practice recognizing these feelings by showing you pictures or videos and explaining what they mean.
- Learning Social Rules: Every game has rules, right? Social interactions also have rules, like taking turns or saying “please” and “thank you.” Noora can help you learn these social rules in a fun and easy way.
- Playing Games Together: Noora can even play games with you! This helps you learn how to share, cooperate, and understand the give-and-take of playing with others.
Why is this so cool?
Think about all the amazing things science and technology can do! Noora is a fantastic example of how we can use computers to make life better for people. It shows that by studying how our brains work and how we interact with each other, scientists can create tools that help us learn and grow.
Could you build something like Noora?
Absolutely! If you’re curious about how things work, if you love solving puzzles, and if you enjoy making things better, then science and technology might be for you! You could become a scientist who invents new tools, a computer programmer who builds amazing programs, or even a researcher who helps people understand each other better.
What can you do to learn more?
- Ask Questions: Never stop asking “why?” and “how?” That’s how scientists start!
- Explore: Visit your local library, check out science websites for kids, or ask your parents to find science museums or camps.
- Play with Technology: Try simple coding games or apps that teach you about logic and problem-solving.
- Observe: Pay attention to how people interact around you. What makes them happy? What makes them sad?
Noora is a reminder that science isn’t just about test tubes and big equations. It’s about understanding the world around us, including how we connect with each other, and using that knowledge to create positive change. So, the next time you see something amazing that helps people, remember the scientists who made it possible and consider if you might want to be one of them someday!
AI social coach offers support to people with autism
The AI has delivered the news.
The following question was used to generate the response from Google Gemini:
At 2025-08-13 00:00, Stanford University published ‘AI social coach offers support to people with autism’. Please write a detailed article with related information, in simple language that children and students can understand, to encourage more children to be interested in science. Please provide only the article in English.