AI rights for children - Ethics of AI

IV. AI rights for children

Have you ever thought about how much AI impacts children? They are exposed to algorithms at home, at school, and at play. Algorithms shape the environments in which they live, the services they have access to, and how they spend their time. Children play with interactive smart toys, they watch videos recommended by algorithms, use voice commands to control their phones, and use image manipulation algorithms for fun in social media.

The presence of AI in children’s lives raises many questions. Is it acceptable to use recommendation algorithms with children or to provide an interactive toy if the child cannot understand that they are dealing with a computer? How should parents be advised on the possible impact of AI-based toys on the cognitive development of a child? What should children learn about AI in schools in order to have a sufficient understanding of the technology around them? At what point should a child be given the right to decide about the consents involved? How long should the data be stored?

As Unicef and other organisations emphasize, we must pay specific attention to children and the evolution of AI technology in a way that children-specific rights and needs are recognized. The potential impact of artificial intelligence on children deserves special attention, given children’s heightened vulnerabilities and the numerous roles that artificial intelligence will play throughout the lifespan of individuals born in the 21st century.

For more information:

https://www.unicef.org/innovation/GenerationAI

https://www.weforum.org/projects/generation-ai

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most comprehensive legal framework that protects children – defined as human beings 18 years old and under – as rights bearers. The CRC aims to ensure children’s equality of treatment by nation states. More than a binding international document, the convention is an ethical and legal framework for assessing states’ progress or regress on issues of particular interest to children.

The content of the convention can be summarized under three themes: the child is entitled to special protection and care, adequate provision of resources by society, and participation in the decision-making concerning himself or herself with respect to his or her age and maturity.

The convention involves four general principles:

All children are equal
The interests of the child are primary in all decision-making
The child is entitled to a good life
The views of the child shall be taken into account

The rights of the child are the obligation of adults. The authorities must evaluate the impact on children of all their measures and decisions relating to children, take into account the interests of the children and listen to their opinions.

Parents and legal guardians have the primary responsibility for taking care of their children and their upbringing. They are entitled to obtain support, guidance and advice for that task. If the parents or guardians are not, despite support, able to take care of the well-being of their child, the state must safeguard good care for the child through foster care or adoption.

However, the current international framework that protects children’s rights does not explicitly address many of the issues raised by the development and use of artificial intelligence. Instead, it identifies several rights that may be implicated by these technologies, and thus provides a starting place for any analysis of how children’s rights may be positively or negatively affected by new technologies, such as rights to privacy, to education, to play, and to non-discrimination.

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Chapter 5: Should AI respect and promote rights?

IV. AI rights for children