{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7165392360","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806139","title":"Exploring AI Companions Together: A Structured Family Co-Investigation of Character.AI","display_name":"Exploring AI Companions Together: A Structured Family Co-Investigation of Character.AI","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-06-20","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7165392360","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806139"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3773077.3806139","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806139","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806139","any_repository_has_fulltext":null},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5070249370","display_name":"Meghna Gupta","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4199-5705"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I201448701","display_name":"University of Washington","ror":"https://ror.org/00cvxb145","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Meghna Gupta","raw_affiliation_strings":["Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4199-5705","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5132674023","display_name":"Mitsuka Kiyohara","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I185261750","display_name":"University of Toronto","ror":"https://ror.org/03dbr7087","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mitsuka Kiyohara","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6420-9280","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5138989942","display_name":"Ranjitha Naruganahalli Rangaswamy","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9761-9235"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I201448701","display_name":"University of Washington","ror":"https://ror.org/00cvxb145","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ranjitha Naruganahalli Rangaswamy","raw_affiliation_strings":["Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9761-9235","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5058923617","display_name":"Franziska Roesner","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8735-4810"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I201448701","display_name":"University of Washington","ror":"https://ror.org/00cvxb145","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Franziska Roesner","raw_affiliation_strings":["Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science &amp; Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8735-4810","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science &amp; Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5066304043","display_name":"Julie A. Kientz","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7437-7861"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I201448701","display_name":"University of Washington","ror":"https://ror.org/00cvxb145","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Julie A. Kientz","raw_affiliation_strings":["Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7437-7861","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I201448701"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":5,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.95281906,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"194","last_page":"212"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10709","display_name":"Social Robot Interaction and HRI","score":0.2583000063896179,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3207","display_name":"Social Psychology"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/32","display_name":"Psychology"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10709","display_name":"Social Robot Interaction and HRI","score":0.2583000063896179,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3207","display_name":"Social Psychology"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/32","display_name":"Psychology"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10883","display_name":"Ethics and Social Impacts of AI","score":0.08179999887943268,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3311","display_name":"Safety Research"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12128","display_name":"AI in Service Interactions","score":0.07519999891519547,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/perspective","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","score":0.31029999256134033},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/component","display_name":"Component (thermodynamics)","score":0.25060001015663147},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/set","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","score":0.24719999730587006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/feature","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","score":0.24619999527931213},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/context","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","score":0.24580000340938568}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.4165000021457672},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.3447999954223633},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15744967","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9418","display_name":"Psychology","level":0,"score":0.33230000734329224},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C12713177","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1900281","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","level":2,"score":0.31029999256134033},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C168167062","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1117970","display_name":"Component (thermodynamics)","level":2,"score":0.25060001015663147},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177264268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514741","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","level":2,"score":0.24719999730587006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776401178","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12050496","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","level":2,"score":0.24619999527931213},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779343474","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3109175","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","level":2,"score":0.24580000340938568},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98045186","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205663","display_name":"Process (computing)","level":2,"score":0.24330000579357147},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C116834253","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2039217","display_name":"Identification (biology)","level":2,"score":0.23749999701976776}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3773077.3806139","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806139","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference","raw_type":"proceedings-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3773077.3806139","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806139","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"score":0.5754094123840332,"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/5","display_name":"Gender equality"}],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G7803659459","display_name":"FW-HTF-R: The Future of Equitable Childcare Worker Technologies","funder_award_id":"2222242","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8467890737","display_name":"REU Site: The DUB REU Program for Human-Centered Computing Research","funder_award_id":"2348926","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","display_name":"National Science Foundation","ror":"https://ror.org/021nxhr62"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320309327","display_name":"Google","ror":"https://ror.org/00njsd438"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":32,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1495373088","https://openalex.org/W1973241274","https://openalex.org/W1991735731","https://openalex.org/W2022971806","https://openalex.org/W2045923296","https://openalex.org/W2057221334","https://openalex.org/W2073540968","https://openalex.org/W2076945782","https://openalex.org/W2078834509","https://openalex.org/W2111205831","https://openalex.org/W2114216000","https://openalex.org/W2279317389","https://openalex.org/W2346845553","https://openalex.org/W2401762417","https://openalex.org/W2463026360","https://openalex.org/W2558404782","https://openalex.org/W2565578188","https://openalex.org/W2610843477","https://openalex.org/W2673105821","https://openalex.org/W2950504429","https://openalex.org/W3215201135","https://openalex.org/W4214485144","https://openalex.org/W4226024632","https://openalex.org/W4393870639","https://openalex.org/W4396832082","https://openalex.org/W4396833398","https://openalex.org/W4399564207","https://openalex.org/W4401381302","https://openalex.org/W4408361163","https://openalex.org/W4411337794","https://openalex.org/W4416792402","https://openalex.org/W7165153010"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Teens":[0],"today":[1],"are":[2,43],"increasingly":[3],"drawn":[4],"to":[5,95,125],"emotionally":[6,45],"responsive":[7],"AI":[8,12,68,111,130],"systems,":[9],"often":[10,38],"called":[11],"companions.":[13,131],"As":[14],"these":[15],"technologies":[16],"grow":[17],"in":[18],"popularity,":[19],"families":[20,78,124],"face":[21],"new":[22],"questions":[23],"about":[24,129],"mediating":[25],"teens\u2019":[26,120],"interactions":[27,42],"with":[28,76,79,134],"them.":[29],"Traditional":[30],"mediation":[31],"strategies,":[32],"such":[33],"as":[34],"monitoring":[35],"or":[36],"restriction,":[37],"fall":[39],"short":[40],"when":[41],"private,":[44],"persuasive,":[46],"and":[47,57,63,86,113,122,136],"relational.":[48],"In":[49],"this":[50],"study,":[51],"we":[52],"examine":[53],"how":[54],"families,":[55],"parents":[56,116],"teens,":[58],"can":[59],"jointly":[60],"explore,":[61],"interpret,":[62],"negotiate":[64],"the":[65],"use":[66],"of":[67,110],"companions":[69],"together.":[70],"We":[71,132],"conducted":[72],"a":[73],"four-week":[74],"study":[75],"11":[77],"teens":[80],"aged":[81],"13\u201315,":[82],"centered":[83],"on":[84],"Character.AI":[85],"structured":[87],"around":[88],"activities":[89],"that":[90,102,142],"progressed":[91],"from":[92],"joint":[93,108],"exploration":[94],"teen":[96],"independent":[97],"use.":[98,148],"Our":[99],"findings":[100],"show":[101],"co-exploration":[103],"fostered":[104],"family":[105],"connection,":[106],"supported":[107],"calibration":[109],"behaviors":[112],"limits,":[114],"gave":[115],"real-time":[117],"insight":[118],"into":[119],"decision-making,":[121],"prompted":[123],"reassess":[126],"their":[127],"assumptions":[128],"conclude":[133],"implications":[135],"recommendations":[137],"for":[138],"designing":[139],"parental-mediation":[140],"tools":[141],"help":[143],"scaffold":[144],"healthy":[145],"teen-AI":[146],"companion":[147]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-06-21T06:12:48.119943","created_date":"2026-06-20T00:00:00"}
