When AI enters the playroom, children must help design the future of play
The toys of the future may take many different forms. As artificial intelligence becomes part of children’s play and social interaction, it becomes increasingly important to find methods for involving children in the development of those toys. Above is an example of how speculative design can support that process. It may look rather unlikely, admittedly, but this prototype has provided new insights into how children think about interacting with AI in play.
There is a classic paradox that asks what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. As artificial intelligence makes an almost unstoppable entrance into every layer of children’s play and everyday lives, it may be worth reframing the question: what happens when a system-driven language model meets the unspoken nature of play?
The question matters because it touches on something fundamental in how we grow and learn about the world: what happens when free imagination is translated into fixed formulas through AI, and when toys themselves begin to shape children’s play and development?
Twenty-four Danish schoolchildren have helped a Danish-led research project explore these questions through design methods and free play under expert guidance.
Kolding School of Design has brought together Danish partners in a research collaboration with Yonsei University in South Korea. The aim is to take the first steps towards balancing technology with free imagination, and to establish an international network that can help shape the role of technology in the world of play with a broader perspective than before.
- We’re not asking children to explain their opinions about AI. We ask them to imagine what AI could look like for them. Our task is to observe what happens while they build. The project can help us understand what it is we are about to unleash in the playroom – and invite children to contribute to shaping it. That kind of insight has not existed before, says project leader Jesper Falck Legaard from LAB for Play Design at Kolding School of Design.
The project, called PL_AI, began in 2025. Through design methods using simple materials, free associations and playful approaches, the researchers have explored how AI might become an active part of children’s play worlds.
Giving form to ideas
The 24 pupils came from a third-grade class and were asked to build their own versions of future AI toys together with researchers from the design school.
Jesper Falck Legaard explains that the prototypes sparked particularly strong reflections when one group of children decided to build a bed for their AI device — because their artificial friend, of course, needed somewhere to sleep.
- When they started building a bed for the technology, we could see how quickly the relationship became personal. That tells us something new about trust and expectations. It also shows that the next step will be to explore the ethical questions and guidelines in much greater depth, which we will discuss further with experts in the field, says Jesper Falck Legaard.
Associate Professor Jesper Falck Legaard from LAB for Play Design is the project lead for PL_AI, which is building a network across disciplines and national borders to develop methods for involving both children and developers in shaping the toys of the future.
Around the world, researchers are studying how artificial intelligence may influence children’s development. What makes the Danish-led project distinctive is that it combines South Korean technological development with Danish design thinking and an understanding of play in a practical, hands-on context.
One of the private partners in the project is Martin Rauff-Nielsen, who has spent his entire professional life shaping and facilitating play. For a time he did so on a national scale when he took on the role of “Game Master Martin” on Danish public broadcaster DR, where imagination and collaborative storytelling became household experiences in the fantasy world of Barda between 2006 and 2013.
Today he runs his own company, Baaring Stories, bringing his deep understanding of the dynamics of play into the project – which in turn provides new knowledge and networks that will inform his future work.
- AI works best when language is concrete and unambiguous. But play thrives on silent undertones, unwritten rules and the freedom to say yes or no – things a programme will never fully grasp. With PL_AI we have a chance to shape the framework for artificial intelligence so that children in the future don’t end up with artificial play. That’s why it makes sense to create a space where we can pause and explore these questions before the technology itself defines the role it will play in children’s lives.
Facts
The project is funded through a grant from the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science under the Global Innovation Network Programme (GINP). GINP supports networking activities between Danish and international research and innovation partners.
The next step for PL_AI will be another visit to Yonsei University in South Korea to collect and analyse insights and experiences from the collaboration and strengthen the professional relationships between the partners.
The project will conclude in 2027 with a website where findings and experiences will be shared.
Martin Rauff-Nielsen has worked with creating frameworks for play throughout his entire career and has over the years developed methods that encourage us to play together.
