Using AI+Robotics to Support Student Wellness

Students have to be well to learn well, but how can you bridge the gap between diverse and rapidly growing student mental health needs with limited district resources? By augmenting student support staff with empathetic, AI-enabled assistance robots, your district can bridge this divide and ensure more students receive the support they need. This session will dive into the landscape of current and emerging AI-driven robots that impact mental health and wellness within educational settings. We will cover ethical applications of the technology to ensure student privacy, safety, and security, through the lens of the premier student mental wellness robot: MARCo – the Mental-Health Assisting Robot Companion. This session will include live demonstrations of MARCo in various school contexts to enhance student wellbeing, augment student support staff, and improve educational and student outcomes collaboratively with human staff. By the end of this session, participants will have the knowledge and ability to design actionable strategies for integrating AI-based interventions into district-level systems and support structures.