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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · 14d

PEDAL's @ejgoodacre.bsky.social & @drjennyg.bsky.social have had a letter published in The @theguardian.com which responds to Arwa Mahdawi's article about her family's experience with an AI toy:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter

Letter: Our study is looking into how toys powered by AI can affect children’s development and their right to privacy, write Dr Emily J Goodacre and Prof Jenny Gibson

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge @camedfac.bsky.social · 20d

More about @drjennyg.bsky.social and @ejgoodacre.bsky.social's research on AI toys and children's development here: content.educ.cam.ac.uk/content/new-...

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge @camedfac.bsky.social · 20d

"It is our collective responsibility to understand how toys powered by artificial intelligence impact young children."

@drjennyg.bsky.social and @ejgoodacre.bsky.social in The Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter

Letter: Our study is looking into how toys powered by AI can affect children’s development and their right to privacy, write Dr Emily J Goodacre and Prof Jenny Gibson

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Jonathan Goodacre @jonnygoodacre.bsky.social · 20d

How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... Great letter from Dr Emily J Goodacre (my niece) in The Guardian today in response to article about AI Toys earlier in the week.

How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter

Letter: Our study is looking into how toys powered by AI can affect children’s development and their right to privacy, write Dr Emily J Goodacre and Prof Jenny Gibson

www.theguardian.com

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · 20d

Today in our Guardian letter, @drjennyg.bsky.social and I call for a greater public discourse on how AI toys are interacting with young children and the impacts on their development. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter

Letter: Our study is looking into how toys powered by AI can affect children’s development and their right to privacy, write Dr Emily J Goodacre and Prof Jenny Gibson

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 23d

‘I love you too!’ My family’s creepy, unsettling week with an AI toy

The cuddly chatbot Grem is designed to ‘learn’ your child’s personality, while every conversation they have is recorded, then transcribed by a third party. It wasn’t long before I wanted this experiment to be over ...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · Aug 20

We need your help! Please click the link below for more info and share with your networks - thank you!

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · Aug 7

Early years practitioners: We want to hear your views on new toys that use artificial intelligence! We're researching how new toys that use AI might impact young children, and we want to learn about your concerns, as well as your views on any benefits.

cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Aug 19

We're looking for early years practitioners to help us learn about AI toys in early years settings. No experience of AI is required, and all views are welcome.

Please repost, share with early years practitioners, and/or sign up for more details here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Jul 17

Check out the recordings from #PEDALConference2025, including me presenting preliminary results from our scoping review on generative AI toys 📖👇

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · Jul 10

The recordings of the #PEDALConference2025 are available to watch now on our YouTube channel:

PEDAL Conference 2025

The PEDAL Conference 2025 took place on Wednesday 11 June 2025. This year's theme was “Playing for the Future: 10 Years of PEDAL”.This one-day event brought ...

www.youtube.com

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Jul 1

Well deserved! 👏👏

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · Jun 30

Now that the final Play Commission report has been published (see link in our bio and our previous post), we wanted to re-share the submission that PEDAL's Dr Soizic Le Courtois and Manogya Sahay worked on with PhD student Qiming Liu:

Supporting Learning Through Play - PEDAL

A Play Commission Submission by Dr Soizic Le Courtois, Manogya Sahay and Qiming Liu

www.pedalhub.net

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Jun 24

A fitting way to travel to yesterday's thought-provoking workshop on playful and ethical AI for children at #IDC2025

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Jun 17

Enjoyed sharing preliminary results from our AI in the Early Years research last week alongside Prof Rosie Flewitt and Prof Hatice Gunes at #PEDALConference2025!

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · Jun 11

Huge thanks to Professor Rosie Flewitt, Professor Hatice Gunes and PEDAL’s Dr @ejgoodacre.bsky.social for their presentations on AI, Toys and the Future at the #PEDALConference2025 - plenty of food for thought!

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Center for Open Science @cos.io · May 29

🆕 COS statement on the "Restoring Gold Standard Science" Executive Order

The EO names important open science principles, but their application here is counter to open science's purpose to accelerate discovery, advance treatments, & create knowledge.

📄 Read our statement: www.cos.io/about/news/c...

COS Statement on “Restoring Gold Standard Science” Executive Order

The Executive Order issued on May 23, 2025, Restoring Gold Standard Science, references several open science practices championed by COS and the open science and metascience communities more generally...

www.cos.io

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · May 23

I recently chatted to Rob Hughes of TechTots about what AI toys are, what we (don't) know about them, and what we can expect from them in the future.

🎧 Listen to the podcast here: www.playtandem.com/blog/introdu...

TechTots Podcast: Episode 4 - AI in the Toybox: Navigating Smart Toys & Child Development — Tandem

AI-powered toys are no longer science fiction – they're rapidly entering our children's playrooms. But what do we really know about their impact?  In this episode of TechTots, we're joined by Dr...

www.playtandem.com

Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · May 22

Do you work with or volunteer with children under five? Please complete this survey about AI in the early years and/or share with your networks.

cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Thanks so much!

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Paul Ramchandani @paulramchandani.bsky.social · May 2

One stream of work at PEDAL is developing ways to allow young children to express their views and feelings about things that matter to them.
A new paper from Dr Sydney Conroy looks at a way of exploring this, using sand tray methods. You can read about it here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Trusting play to be meaningful data: using sand tray as a play-based research method with an adapted interpretative phenomenological analysis

Play-based research methods wherein play itself is analysed as valuable and insightful data is sparse. This methodology article details one method for play-based research, sand tray, in conjunction...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

PEDAL Research Centre @pedalcam.bsky.social · Apr 3

We want to understand more about how to make artificial intelligence safe for young children and understand its potential for improving children's lives and opportunities 🤖

cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Mar 20

Survey on AI in the early years (for anyone whose work directly or indirectly impacts children aged 0-5): cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Early Years and AI

A survey about AI for those working with under 5s

cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com

Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Mar 20

More details on our new AI toys research, plus an opportunity for early years professionals to tell us what you think of AI for young children 👇

Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge @camedfac.bsky.social · Mar 20

Do you work in a role supporting young children (aged 0 to five) or their families? If so, @uniofcam.bsky.social researchers are interested in hearing your perspectives on how children are using a new generation of AI-powered toys.

Find out more: content.educ.cam.ac.uk/content/new-...

New project aims to understand how AI ‘smart’ toys affect disadvantage, development and play

content.educ.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Harriet Grant @harrietgrant.bsky.social · Mar 18

A brilliant new campaign from London Sport - with support from @playingout.bsky.social and others ...https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/18/yes-ball-games-drive-to-take-down-signs-warning-against-play-begins-in-london

Yes, ball games: drive to take down signs warning against play begins in London

Charity says thousands of signs on capital’s estates deter children from being active, and is covering some of them up

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

ai@cam @ai.cam.ac.uk · Mar 6

What does great evidence synthesis look like and where is #AI being successfully applied in this field? 💭

Great discussions yesterday at our AI for #evidencesynthesis workshop as we examined the strengths and limitations of current tools, areas of progress and promising applications of AI.

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Brian Nosek @briannosek.bsky.social · Jan 31

The OSF is available for preservation of datasets that need saving.

osf.io

Contact [email protected] if you need assistance

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Emily J. Goodacre @ejgoodacre.bsky.social · Jan 31

Read about our new reserach project on AI toys in early childhood with The Childhood Trust 👇

www.childhoodtrust.org.uk/about-us/new...

How AI toys shape young minds: exploring their impact on early childhood development | The Childhood Trust

www.childhoodtrust.org.uk

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Reposted by Emily J. Goodacre

Jenny Gibson @drjennyg.bsky.social · Jan 22

I'm excited that our new project about #autism and #comics got reported by the BBC!

If you're autistic and into comics, #manga or graphic novels please check it out - there's a link in the article to a research survey.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Autistic comic book fans asked to help Cambridge University study

The Collaboration For Comics And Autism study has been organised by University of Cambridge experts.

www.bbc.co.uk

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