Maeil newspaper article about Dr.Yim's AI study

June 16, 2021

Dr. Yim was on the news for her AI research. Her research results showed that AI speakers can promote children’s language development as they act as assistants in interaction between parents and children with hearing impairment. According to Kakao Policy Industry Study 'Brunch', Professor Yim and Ph.D. Student Shinyoung Kim conducted a research on whether AI speakers can promote children’s language development if they act as assistants in interaction between parents and children with hearing impairment. The research team had five parents and children with hearing loss talk while listening to stories in AI speaker for six weeks, and assessed the child’s story grammar production and comprehension abilities. They showed that children’s comprehension and production of story grammar increased as a result of using AI speakers . The research team said, “We expect AI speaker technology to solve the problem of technology alienation in hearing-impaired families, and to bring about quantitative and qualitative improvements in children’s language development as well as interaction between parents and children.” The study came as a result of digital inclusive research support project using AI speakers conducted by Kakao and Kakao Enterprise in 2020. 정욱, 'AI 스피커, 청각 지적 장애자 의사소통에 도움' 매일경제, 16-June-2021. [online]. Available: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/it/view/2021/06/585503/