Isabella Pu

Hi y’all! I’m Isabella Pu, a second year Master’s student in the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, studying with Professor Cynthia Breazeal. In 2023, I graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and certificate in Robotics & Intelligent Systems.

Broadly, my research investigates how we can use social robots and AI to create playful, engaging, and educational child-robot interactions, focusing on children in grades K-5. As today’s children become more immersed in AI and other technologies, it becomes increasingly important to empower children in their use of these technologies and to use these technologies for good. In particular, I am interested in AI-powered social robot systems for early childhood AI education and social-emotional learning. I pursue this line of work in several ways:

• I create child-robot interactions to investigate how children can interact with robots and AI in positive, engaging, and educational ways.
• I design K-5 curricula and learning experiences to teach children about AI and robots, empowering them to use these technologies more confidently.
• I develop human-AI co-creativity tools to encourage creative learning and creative uses of technology.

Previously, I have worked at Blizzard Entertainment (for the Horde!) on the Player Interactions & Trust team, building systems to detect disruptive behavior in games and help promote pro-social behavior. If you’re interested in this, check out some of the PIT team’s amazing work.

Outside of work, I am an avid achievement hunter and play all sorts of video games. I also follow fashion, write & play music, and write & perform poetry.