Building Inclusive HRI: Early Insights on Ethical AI for Neurodiverse Children

Abstract

AI-based engagement recognition systems are increasingly adopted in educational and therapeutic contexts to provide individualized support for neurodiverse children. Despite their growing use, these systems raise ethical, technological, and social challenges that remain underexplored within the human–robot interaction (HRI) literature. This paper proposes an inclusive engagement framework to guide the ethical design and deployment of AI systems interacting with neurodiverse children, with an emphasis on fairness, transparency, and inclusion. The framework was developed using a mixed-methods approach, combining a scoping review of 18 peer-reviewed studies with a focus group discussion involving educators, therapists, and caregivers. Our findings reveal a prevailing reliance on neurotypical engagement cues in existing models, alongside limited consideration of the variability and contextual nature of engagement in neurodiverse populations. In addition, focus group participants emphasized practical concerns, including the risks of misinterpretation, reduced child agency, and over-automation in real-world settings. Overall, this paper lays the conceptual groundwork for an inclusive engagement framework and highlights key ethical considerations for the responsible use of AI-based engagement recognition systems with neurodiverse children.

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