Embodied AI for Financial Literacy Social Robots

Financial literacy is a critical field that prepares individuals to manage their money effectively and to become economically self-suffcient by making informed financial decisions. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread across a variety of disciplines, including K-12 education, and more financial institutions move towards digitizing their services, the demand for AI systems in financial literacy education is growing. While many financial and educational institutions alike have implemented AI systems, there remains a need for a system geared toward teaching young students these important lessons and skills. To address this demand, we have created an AI system equipped with financial literacy lessons for grade school students. The system, which is embedded into a NAO robot, a humanoid robot designed for use within education, was evaluated on its performance in the classroom across multiple metrics, including its effcacy, its robustness and feasibility in the classroom, and the students’ enjoyment in using it. The results from the experiments suggest that the system did result in the retention of material, but did not do so at a significantly different level than the more traditional teaching method of a guided worksheet. However, the students did report higher levels of enjoyment in using the robot when compared to a worksheet. These results show promise for future uses of the system, as well as shed light on areas in which the system can be improved in the future.