BATOOL GHAITH (ABU DHABI)

Can video games and artificial intelligence detect early signs of speech and language disorders in children? An Emirati researcher has developed a video game designed to do just that, spotting signs of speech delay while children play.

Hamdan Al-Ali, a PhD candidate in Natural Language Processing (NLP) at MBZUAI and co-founder of Potion AI, launched Chatty Check  in partnership with NLP specialist Dr Hanan Aldarmaki.

"Chatty Check was born from a long-held conviction that video games can serve a purpose far greater than entertainment," Al-Ali told Aletihad.

The game uses gameplay to identify potential indicators of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), a condition that affects an estimated 1 in 14 children worldwide but remains poorly recognised by the public.

With more than five billion smartphone users and an estimated 3.6 billion gamers globally, Al-Ali argues that video games are no longer a niche activity - they are among the most familiar and accessible technologies in people's daily lives.

"If games command this level of attention and reach, we should leverage them more deliberately for learning, health, and wellbeing," he said, noting that Chatty Check seeks to explore whether game-based experiences can support early developmental screening.

As a PhD candidate in NLP, Al-Ali needed a linguistic foundation for his research. And through conversations with specialists at the Speech Care Centre, he was introduced to DLD.

Unlike autism or stuttering, DLD does not always present with visible markers and is often described as a "hidden disorder." Its impact, however, can persist into adulthood, affecting education, mental health, social life, and employment.

Al-Ali referenced a study by Eapen et al., titled "Screening for language delay in the United Arab Emirates," which assessed 694 three-year-olds using the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST). The study found that approximately 9.9% of the screened children exhibited delays in the language sector of DDST.

"While international figures help us understand the possible scale of the issue, broader and more recent UAE-specific data is still needed," Al-Ali explained.

He believes that the primary challenge isn't the quality of existing clinical screenings, but scalability. That is why he designed Chatty Check in a way that makes early screening more accessible, standardised, and easier to deploy at scale.

"Speech-language pathologists already have the expertise to assess children properly. The gap is that this process is difficult to scale," he said.

"The goal is not to replace speech-language pathologists, but to create a first-layer screening tool that can be used with nurseries and families to identify children who may need further evaluation."

How Chatty Check Works

According to Al Ali, Chatty Check focuses less on pronunciation or fluency and more on how a child comprehends and produces language - two areas speech-language pathologists closely monitor.

To design the workflow, Al-Ali and his team monitored traditional screening sessions to learn how speech-language pathologists assess comprehension, elicit language production, and observe children through structured play.

For example, a child might see a set of illustrated objects and be asked to identify the one matching a spoken description - a task that assesses receptive language without the pressure of a test, Al-Ali explained.

Other in-game activities track whether a child can follow multi-step instructions, respond to prompts, or produce words and sentences within a play context.

The system is built on a dataset drawn from children with and without DLD, mapping performance against patterns associated with typical development versus DLD.

The game is currently live and available in three languages: Emirati Arabic, English, and Portuguese. Families go through an enrollment process with Potion AI to ensure they understand how to administer the game before gaining access.

According to Al-Ali, parents now reach out daily requesting access. And those who had already tested Chatty Check with their children describe it as engaging and easy to use.

Umm Hamad said that her three-year-old son responded positively to the colourful visuals and illustrations.

"He was able to understand what to do at each step," she told Aletihad.

"The instructions for each part of the game were clear and easy to follow, which helped him navigate through the activities without confusion."

Umm Rashid also shared a positive experience, saying that the game kept her son fully engaged throughout the entire session.

"My son Rashid really enjoyed it. He says it's a 'nice game' and he loved it. It was truly a beautiful activity for both of us," she told Aletihad.