In a crowded fourth-grade classroom in Chicago, a new kind of tutor is shaping how children learn about empathy, conflict, and problem-solving.
These robots aren’t programmed to act like friendly classmates with invented emotions and backstories. Instead, they speak plainly, without pretense or fiction.
The research behind it, led by graduate student Lauren Wright and overseen by Asst. Prof. Sarah Sebo at the University of Chicago’s Department of Computer Science, found that honest, factual robots can effectively supplement classroom instruction—challenging conventions and illuminating a new, ethical path for educational technology.
The study was honored with the Best Paper Award at the prestigious 2026 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction.
“We started not with a specific robot prototype, but by observing social and emotional learning instruction in Chicago Public Schools classrooms and talking with teachers about their experiences with social and emotional learning, and then starting to think about how robots might be able to supplement the amazing work teachers are already doing in schools,” said Sebo.
One-on-one learning
Social and emotional learning is a set of skills to help students recognize and manage emotions, establish solid relationships, and respond to challenges. Research has found that teaching these skills boosts long-term academic performance and mental wellness, and reduces rates of dropouts and violence, among other outcomes.
For teachers in Chicago Public Schools, social and emotional learning lessons usually mean whole-class activities delivered once a week.
In practice, however, many students tune out, and overstretched teachers would love more one-on-one opportunities.
Teachers interviewed in the study expressed concern that group social and emotional learning lessons rarely reach every child. This perspective, along with careful classroom observation and interviews, drove the research team to look for solutions.
“We wanted to create a team that would be able to uniquely design and study technology, informed by best practices in social and emotional learning education, with the input of principals, administrators, teachers and students in Chicago Public Schools,” said Sebo.
The plan came together as a partnership; Chicago Public Schools provided access to classrooms and teachers, and policy expert Kiljoong Kim at Chapin Hall built crucial connections that made this cross-institution project possible.
Wright’s team asked whether robots could supplement teachers and provide individualized instruction where group lessons fall short. And did it actually matter if those robots ‘acted’ human?
Straightforward robots
52 students participated in the experiment. One group learned social and emotional learning from robots with fictional, emotion-laden dialogue. Another worked with robots that spoke only in factual terms, openly acknowledging they had no feelings or friends. The third group received their regular curriculum with no robot involvement.
Both robot groups showed students improved in their mastery of social and emotional learning concepts compared to peers who only had classroom instruction. Yet the researchers found the factual robots, in their straightforward honesty, often encouraged deeper engagement with lesson vocabulary and problem-solving language.
These findings challenge conventional wisdom.
“Giving robots fictional personalities with the intent to make them more engaging is a common approach to educational robots, one which feels especially relevant for teaching social and emotional learning,” said Wright. “However, in our research study, we found that the robot’s fictional emotions and experiences may have distracted or made students feel less comfortable using lesson language.
“These findings challenge us to reconsider our assumptions when designing robot behaviors—just because an approach is common doesn’t mean it will always lead to the best outcomes.”
Authentic impact
As society becomes more concerned about children forming unhealthy attachments to AI, the Chicago team’s results provide timely guidance. Demonstrating that factual robots can perform as well or better without mimicking emotions points the way to a safer classroom technology.
The central message of the study is clear, the scientists said: Robots are powerful supplements, extending teachers’ capabilities and freeing up attention for students who need more support. But they do not replace the human element in teaching.
“We firmly believe that human teachers are the most important element in elementary education,” said Sebo. “As we all experienced during the pandemic, replacing in-person educational experiences with technology-mediated ones can be disastrous. Our work does not seek to replace human teachers, but instead, aims to create robot tools that extend a teacher’s reach, giving the ability to provide children with one-on-one attention without pulling them away from the rest of the class.”
As this school year winds down, Chicago’s classroom experiment stands as proof of what partnership-driven innovation can achieve in education. The findings invite other districts to rethink how technology can responsibly supplement teachers and ensure every child receives meaningful, individualized support.
—Adapted from an article first published by the Department of Computer Science.
