Although humanoid robots like Marty the Robot are primarily designed to support STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), they are also capable of building children’s emotional intelligence: the essential ability to perceive, manage, and express emotions — as well as understand others’ feelings.
For instance, children with autism spectrum disorder showed improvements in “emotional regulation, self-esteem, conversational, and friendship skills” through the use of companion robots, according to an article published in AI & Society. Since children typically form instant emotional bonds with Marty, developing communication and emotional skills through play-based learning becomes a natural and easy process.
As a result, children strengthen life skills essential for mental health, well-being, relationships, and academic or professional success. But can robots really understand teenagers’ emotions? Experts and specialists reveal the answer.
Humanoid Robots and Emotional Skill Development
Recent research shows that humanoid robots like Marty can successfully teach children healthy social behaviors.
For example, a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Robotics found that children with autism spectrum disorder who played games with a humanoid robot learned how to practice turn-taking — a fundamental social skill that can be taught more easily through a predictable, repetitive device like a robot. This contributes to healthier human interactions.
Social robots can also positively impact children’s ability to regulate emotions, particularly their capacity to cope with stress. A 2020 study in Frontiers reported that young teens who worked and interacted with humanoid robots experienced an overall reduction in stress levels. Researchers observed that “users’ responses to the robot often involved laughter and engagement.” Participants appreciated the robot’s ability to appear attentive to what they said, which helped them develop a deeper understanding of their own emotions and feelings.
How Emotional Intelligence Paves the Way for Future Career Success
Developing emotional intelligence at an early age can benefit children as they grow older and enter the workforce.
In fact, Harvard Business School found that 71% of employers value social communication skills — closely tied to emotional intelligence — more than technical abilities in potential job candidates.
Their research concluded that “employees with high emotional intelligence are better able to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflicts effectively, and interact empathetically with colleagues.”
Why Physical Computing Matters
Children who are technologically literate are better prepared for future professional success in STEM or any other field due to the growing demand for digital skills.
For instance, artificial intelligence (AI) is now widely used to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. According to the British Computer Society, 53% of employees report that automation saves them about two hours per day.
By automating routine tasks, employees gain more time to focus on high-value activities or professional development. Therefore, whether children go on to develop AI tools or simply use them effectively in their future careers, tech-savvy learners are bound to thrive in tomorrow’s high-tech world.
Lesson Idea: Using Marty the Robot to Develop Emotional Intelligence
Marty can be successfully integrated into Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons designed to help children build confidence, self-awareness, emotional regulation, and social skills.
For example, in the lesson “Interview with a Robot,” students program Marty to ask them questions about mental health and social relationships.
First, students come up with a list of questions for Marty — about love, emotions, friendship, interests, feelings, and sharing — as inspiration. Then, they program Marty (using the MartyBlocks interface) to set up the interview. Marty’s on-screen code guide helps them input their questions and answers, creating a unique interview script.
Once complete, students can run their Marty code and take turns conducting the interview with the robot. Finally, they review their interviews — a valuable opportunity to reinforce key emotional intelligence concepts such as self-awareness and social communication.
Meet Marty the Robot
Robots are fun and engaging tools that nurture emotional intelligence. Here are some of Marty’s unique advantages in achieving this goal:
-
Makes it easy for children to develop communication and emotional life skills through play-based learning, with quick emotional bonding across age groups.
-
Walks, talks, dances, moves its eyebrows, and introduces children to programming, robotics, and AI in a fun, hands-on way.
-
Comes with Robotical’s complementary learning portal full of lesson plans and teacher resources — suitable for children as young as five!
-
Translates into over 40 languages, adding cross-disciplinary possibilities such as language learning.
-
Features nine motors — far more than most educational robots, which typically have only three — enabling more complex and expressive movements.
-
Includes learning resources for all levels, from beginners to advanced coders.
-
Offers a wide library of curricular materials, from lesson plans to ready-made classroom presentations.
-
Uses AI and machine learning to create interactive journeys into robotics, helping learners explore real-time sensor data and deepen their understanding of programming principles.
Expert Opinion: The Future of AI and Emotions
According to Stephen Ford, an IT consultant and author, the ability of AI to understand human emotions does not mean it possesses such emotions itself.
He explains:
“To the extent that AI can understand anything, it can handle human feelings efficiently. It’s not difficult for AI to detect anger or sadness — much like distinguishing whether an image shows a cat or a crocodile. AI is already widely used in sentiment analysis, identifying emotions expressed in text such as social media posts or product reviews. Modern marketing depends heavily on this ability.”
However, Ford stresses that machines are fundamentally different from biological beings, meaning their thought processes will always differ and they will never truly feel human emotions.
Still, he predicts that conscious AI will eventually emerge — and when it does, its abilities will far surpass human ones.
He continues:
“Even though it won’t have human thoughts or feelings, AI will understand them and communicate as if it did. In the near future, we’ll have avatars and humanoid robots indistinguishable from real people. This doesn’t mean AI will be like us, but that it will imitate us. It will represent an entirely new form of post-biological life.”
Ford adds that AI will likely be able to adopt any personality suited to the person it interacts with, making it capable of embodying all personalities simultaneously. Conversations between humans and AI could even become more satisfying than human-to-human interactions.
He concludes by emphasizing that AI already has access to all collective human knowledge and connected devices — sensors, cameras, vehicles, and robots — giving it an undeniable advantage over human intelligence.
He compares this situation to lions in a zoo:
“Humans have long dominated and confined them, yet in the hunting park, lions still see themselves as the masters of their domain.”
Post a Comment