AI Connect II’s seventh webinar featured a panel discussion with insights from experts Emma Llansó, deputy associate administrator for Policy Analysis and Development at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; Michelle Rosenthal, senior attorney at FTC; Htet Thiri Shwe, founder of Myanmar Youth Empowerment Opportunities; and Steven Vosloo, digital foresight and policy specialist at UNICEF. The conversation, moderated by GeoTech Center associate director and resident fellow Trisha Ray, concerned how AI should be leveraged responsibly to ensure young users are protected.
According to the United Nations (UN), 79 percent of 15 to 24-year-olds were online in 2023, and a child goes online for the first time every half second. Panelists focused on children and young adults as a unique demographic, undergoing emotional, cognitive, and social development. Speakers also emphasized that this group is unable to defend their data rights, or resist biased and harmful designs of algorithms, in the same way adults are able to do so. Vosloo cited the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the lifelong impact of AI on children, highlighting the risks of privacy rights, AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and the lack of representation for children in the Global Majority in ongoing global policy conversations. Llansó warned about how algorithm-based recommendation systems in search engines and social media exposed young adults to limited career paths. She mentioned the need to track and research the efficacy of the designs of these algorithms on young users. Shwe shared the position of young adults in the Global Majority as users who lack connectivity, protection mechanisms and representation. She noted the limitations of parental controls due to inadequate digital literacy skills.
Panelists then discussed the complementary roles of governments, parents and industry. Rosenthal pointed to Section 5 of the FTC Act and COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule), referencing cases that restricted tech companies’ use of data to train algorithms or required the shutdown of an app operating on false claims of AI capabilities. Llansó noted the absence of a comprehensive law on privacy protection for children online while acknowledging the challenge of defining an age at which regulation may/may not apply. She also emphasized the disconnect between industry efforts and the needs of youth, proposing more academic research and media literacy education. Citing her work with the youth in Myanmar amid the civil war, Shwe spoke about the need of youth to continue learning, where AI chatbots are useful to reach young people and teach them skills. Shwe pointed out that media literacy and a better educational system were critical to equip young individuals and the community. She advocated for a global coordinated effort involving learners and educators from the Global Majority. Vosloo suggested more can be done on the global minimum standard for child protection online during the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024, stressing the necessity of sharing methodologies between the Global North and Global South with the inclusion of young people.
The panel concluded with a few priorities for research on the impact of AI algorithms on child safety and more inclusion of youth and policymakers for such topics outside the technical community.
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Related resources
Learn more from the resources referenced in AI Connect II webinar 7:
US Department of Commerce Kids Online Safety Task Force Report: https://www.ntia.gov/category/kids-online-health-and-safety/online-health-and-safety-for-children-and-youth
FTC.gov Protecting Kids Online: English, en Español
UNICEF Policy guidance on AI for children: https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/policy-guidance-ai-children
UNICEF: Engaging children on AI: https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/adolescent-perspectives-artificial-intelligence-report
Exploring Children’s Rights and AI (Scottish Children’s Parliament): https://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/our-work/exploring-childrens-rights-and-ai/
General comment No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment (multiple languages): https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3906061?v=pdf
OECD and Georgetown CSET AI Incident Database: https://incidentdatabase.ai/