Artificial intelligence (AI) is now front and centre in almost every major app or platform that children use. Recent data reveals rapid adoption: 67 per cent of UK teens now use AI (a figure that has almost doubled in two years), 39 per cent of American elementary students learn through AI applications and 37 per cent of children aged 9–11 in Argentina turn to ChatGPT for information.3 Uptake, however, is not even: UNICEF research (forthcoming) with 12,000 children aged 12–17 and their parents/caregivers found substantial AI usage but wide divides between countries, leading to the exclusion of some children. The little research available on children and AI shows the differences are about more than access – disparities exist in types of usage, attitudes to AI, trust levels, understanding of privacy protections and exposure to harm.
Collectively, these changes bring opportunities and risks to children, young people and their families, teachers and communities. New benefits that could be leveraged include the use of AI systems to better support learning and increase accessibility for children with disabilities. Novel risks include AI-generated disinformation and emotional dependency on companion chatbots. Real harms are experienced through AI-generated explicit ‘deepfakes’ and AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), sometimes based on the images of real children. Essential questions remain unanswered, such as what disruption AI systems may cause in children’s education, skill needs and future workplaces?
Since 2021, there has been a much-needed uptick in efforts to support and protect children in an AI world. From a governance perspective, these include child-related legal stipulations in the EU AI Act and the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI and human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Recommendations appear in the Joint Statement on AI and the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2025 and co-led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNICEF, the UN High-level Advisory Body on AI’s report and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. There are also efforts to research and engage children on the topic, notably by UNICEF, the Alan Turing Institute, the Children’s Parliament and the Scottish AI Alliance, as well as by research groups like Digital Futures for Children with EU Kids Online.
Yet, despite children being at the forefront of AI adoption, little is known about the mid- to long-term impact of AI on them; for example, developmental (cognitive and psychological) and learning impacts, as well as impacts on the societies in which they live. In addition, children remain at the margin of shaping AI systems. This is especially true for children from the Global South, for whom location, digital divides and severely limited access to policy forums and AI design processes are exclusionary factors. Even in wealthy countries in the Global North, most children are not sufficiently engaged in such activities. If AI systems are to benefit every child and function in their best interests, children must be urgently and meaningfully included in AI governance and development processes. Particular attention must be paid to those from the Global South, in rural areas, and from marginalized or vulnerable communities.
The notable policy, research and engagement efforts towards child-centred AI listed above are the exception, not the norm. Children’s rights are still not receiving sufficient attention in AI policy, law, governance and development. As noted, there is very limited understanding of how this unprecedented technological shift is shaping different children’s worldviews, development and futures at large. Further, the growing climate of AI competition and fragmentation between countries creates headwinds for national, regional and global cooperation, resourcing and interoperability – all key for ensuring greater protections and opportunities for children.
The message is clear: in order to uphold children’s rights, AI governance and systems need to optimize opportunities, mitigate risks and eliminate harms for children. The need to address the evidence gap on how AI impacts children and their environments, ideally through participatory research and decision-making, and to centre children in AI policies and systems has never been more urgent or important.
This guidance draws on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to lay out the foundations for child-centred AI: today and in the future, AI policies and systems should protect children, provide equitably for their needs and rights and support their participation in an AI world by contributing to the development and use of AI.
Children should be empowered with access to, and opportunity to benefit from, AI systems. Building on this foundation, the guidance presents ten requirements for child-centred AI, complementing key work already underway, but with a central focus on children.
The guidance is accompanied by many resources, including previous versions, eight implementation case studies, guides for parents and teens, opinion pieces and previous project reports – all available online.
