The Digital Futures for Children (DFC) Centre, in collaboration with researchers from the EU Kids Online network and partners in four global South countries, has been leading this child-rights-focused project exploring children’s experiences with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
As GenAI tools, such as chatbots and image creators, become more prevalent, it is crucial to understand how children experience and perceive these technologies and what are the implications for their rights.
This project explores children’s interactions with GenAI, focusing on their expectations, fears, hopes, and imaginations while assessing the impact on their rights, creativity, and development.
Objectives
The project aims to:
- Understand children’s experiences with GenAI tools (e.g., chatbots, image/video generators).
- Assess the implications of GenAI on children’s rights, including privacy, safety, creativity, and expression.
- Capture children’s perspectives on desired regulations and protections.
- Provide cross-country comparative insights by integrating data from the global South with findings from European research.
Methodology
This study adopts a qualitative approach, including semi-structured interviews with children aged 13-17 who use GenAI. The research will focus on diverse contexts in countries such as Kenya, Brazil, India, and Thailand with a comparative analysis alongside European data from the UK and 16 other countries from the EU Kids Online network.
- Participants: 15 children per country, with balanced representation by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and type of GenAI tools used.
- Data collection: Conducted between January and March 2025, with thematic analysis of interviews.
- Ethics: The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE, ref 439180). Child and parental consent are central to the research process.
Expected outcomes
- Bridging the gap in GenAI policy and advocacy by integrating children’s perspectives.
- Providing actionable insights to inform policies that safeguard children’s rights.
- Highlighting knowledge gaps to guide education on GenAI tools and their implications.
Resources and publications
Our team
Our team at the Digital Futures for Children centre - Sonia Livingstone, Mariya Stoilova (project manager), Kim R. Sylwander and Ayça Atabey will be conducting the research in the UK. In addition, we are collaborating with partners from Brazil, India, Kenya, and the EU Kids Online network.
Ivelise Fortim is a professor at the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo and is the Principal Investigator for RIGHTS.AI in Brazil. She is a specialist in Jungian psychology through COGEAE-PUC-SP and in Career Counseling from Sedes Sapientiae. She is the coordinator of Janus – Laboratory of Psychology and Information and Communication Technology Studies. She is a partner at Homo Ludens Innovation and Knowledge and the president of the Institute Criança em Jogo. Senior Visiting Senior Fellow at the Department of Media and Communication, LSE.
Jennifer Kaberi is the CEO and Founder of Mtoto News and the Principal Investigator for RIGHTS.AI in Kenya. She is a Member of the Technical Group working on the African Union Child Online Safety Model Law at the African Union and a Research Affiliate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. With over 17 years of experience in child development, she holds a Master's degree from Daystar University. Jennifer specialises in creating safe digital spaces for children and has contributed to developing child-focused policies across Africa.
Giovanna Mascheroni is a sociologist of digital media, and Full Professor in the Department of Communication, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Giovanna is coordinating the EU Kids Online strand of this research. Her work focuses on the social consequences of digital media, datafication and AI for children and young people, and families. She joined the EU Kids Online network in 2007 as the Italian team leader, and since 2023 has been its Vice-Coordinator. Her latest book is Datafied childhoods: Data practices and imaginaries in children’s lives, co-authored with Andra Siibak.
Kruakae Pothong is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE and a Consultant at the Digital Futures for Children centre (DFC). She is the Principal Investigator for RIGHTS.AI in Thailand. Her research focuses on AI in education, education data, and child-centred design of digital services. Her broader research intersects technologies, policies and society, spanning the areas of human-computer interaction, digital ethics, data protection, internet and other related policies.
Usha Raman is a professor of media studies at the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad and and the Principal Investigator for RIGHTS.AI in India. Her research and teaching interests span children and media, digital cultures, feminist media studies, and health and science communication. She is currently serving as Vice-President of IAMCR (2020-24) and is co-founder of FemLab, a futures of work research activist collaborative. She is co-editor of a recent collection of essays, Childscape, Mediascape: Children and Media in India (Orient Blackswan, 2023).
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