The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an AI platform that assesses potential autism risk using information about children’s behaviour and suggests support. Caregivers can upload descriptions as text, images or video; the platform records behaviour patterns.
The platform can produce risk reports, offer tailored suggestions and build an updated profile of a child’s development. It also offers more than 20 possible training methods, depending on the situation. A postgraduate student recounted that a parent followed its guidance for two weeks after a child insisted on wearing socks over trouser cuffs; the student said the child changed the habit.
An HKUST professor in mathematics and industrial engineering and decision analysis said the tool is for screening, not diagnosis. Its accuracy cannot be generalised, the professor said, and its suggestions are not final conclusions.
The HKUST team said it hoped to make autism support more accessible to families in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. At the time of the report, the platform was mainly open to medical institutions, schools and parents in mainland China and Hong Kong.