Children in the Age of AI

A new generation is raised with AI, and, possibly, by AI. This new reality makes it imperative to recognise significant new opportunities but also address crucial challenges.

In the age of digital transformation, it is essential to adopt age appropriate approaches and designs. Children must be equipped with the abilities and tools that will allow them to flourish within the digital world and that will enable them to become functioning democratic citizens. Parents, caregivers and educators must be educated to consider the effects on children’s life, reputation, and future when using AI.

The inaugural edition of The Lyceum Project in 2024 set out an Aristotelian ethical framework for addressing the key challenges and opportunities created by the rapid development of AI technologies, as presented by Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI Director John Tasioulas and Stanford Professor Josiah Ober’s new white paper: “Lyceum Project: AI Ethics with Aristotle”.

Central themes of the paper included the following:

• The ethics of AI must be rooted in a rich conception of human flourishing, one centered on the exercise of distinctive human capabilities.
• AI systems should be conceived as ‘intelligent tools’ that enable individual and communal flourishing, not beings with a comparable moral standing to humans.
• The key political means for ensuring that AI serves the human good is its subjection to strong governance, based on informed and participatory democratic processes, with AI tools also playing an important role in enabling democratic deliberation and decision- making at scale.

Building on the central themes of the Aristotelian ethical framework, on the 20th of June, this year’s edition of The Lyceum Project focuses on the high-priority issue of enabling children, tomorrow’s citizens, to flourish in the age of AI:

Topics of discussion will include:

• Human nature: How do we teach parents, teachers and children about human nature and the alignment (or misalignment) of AI with it? What are effective ways to enhance children’s sense of agency? What types of educational experiences are crucial for children to develop a keen understanding of their choices preparing them to be active and informed democratic citizens?
• AI systems as ‘intelligent tools’ for children’s flourishing: How can we design AI systems for children in a way that safeguards their privacy, their capacity to cultivate their agency and their development towards becoming responsible democratic citizens? How should AI systems communicate their capabilities to avoid setting unrealistic expectations about their functionality?
• Policy and regulations: How can AI help children’s voice to be heard in democratic deliberation and decision-making at scale, to also ensure today’s decision makers better understand how children and AI interact? How can AI help children develop healthier lives and interests? What are our ethical and legal obligations to future generations in the context of AI development and implementation?

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