Storytelling is a widely recognised narrative practice that supports emotional reflection and shared meaning-making within communities. For parents, it provides an important means of bonding with their children and passing on life experiences, while for children it supports imagination, creativity, and emotional development. As technology becomes increasingly embedded in family routines, from lullabies played by smart speakers to chatbots that tell bedtime stories, the contexts in which storytelling occur are yet changing.

Digital storytelling can potentially allow both children and adults to express experiences and emotions that may otherwise be difficult to articulate. And technologies already employed today for these purposes include mobile applications offering parental guidance, audio and video storytelling platforms, and AI-generated story tools. Given recent advances, generative AI presents new opportunities to support more intuitive, accessible, and interactive storytelling practices for parents and children.

The use of AI technologies in family and educational contexts yet raises important concerns. The EU AI Act categorises AI tools employed in these settings as “high-risk,” requiring significant safeguards, transparency, and human oversight. In this context, a human-centred approach which frames technology as collaborative rather than directive becomes essential, as does the need to surface new design-oriented questions of computing technologies; such as how generative AI tools might be designed as partners in co-creation, empowering parents to tell their own stories in their own terms — blending the capabilities of AI with the care, authenticity, and lived experience of families.

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This challenge, Chaitanya Gaddamwar, Arthy Kannan, Wenqian Liao, Khushi Mehta and Anrita Yadav seized the opportunity to address through their MSc HCI Design Project work. Adopting a participatory design approach, the team engaged parents, psychologists, and educators in discussions and interviews to understand how storytelling unfolds in real-world family contexts. Combined with a competitor analyses of eight related storytelling technologies, this research revealed the importance of attending to the dual-user nature of storytelling technologies involving both parents and children, the need for simple, accessible tools in which AI acts as a facilitator rather than a directive force; as well as concerns about screen time and that over-reliance on AI-generated stories may reduce children’s creativity.

Following ideation sessions, sketching, and a design workshop with an AI expert, the team iteratively designed Taleo, a generative AI application which offers a co-creative storytelling environment. The app enables parents to build emotionally resonant narratives grounded in real experiences, respecting emotional presence while inviting creativity and adapting to the rhythms of everyday family life. Direct input from parents shaped Taleo’s voice, tone, and flexibility. Key features include a custom prompt-based story creation tool, a visual-first mode that allows children to draw and narrate with AI support, a community and blog space for parents, and a shared story library.

Ethical considerations underpin the design of Taleo, particularly around consent, data privacy, and emotional wellbeing. Parents retain full ownership and control over their stories, including the ability to revise, pause, or withdraw content at any stage. The app encourages gentle reflection rather than constant engagement, supporting parents at different levels of confidence and emotional readiness.