‘In the Future We Will Make Our Own Superheroes’: Reflections on the Future of Broadcast for Children Aged 7–11

Throughout 2022 and 2023, we worked with around 200 children to better understand the future of broadcast media for 7–11-year-olds in the UK. The work formed part of a wider Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project known as XR Stories and housed at the University of York. The project reported on here, resulted in several key findings related to (1) multi-materiality, (2) materiality and making work slows with Ai, (3) interaction and (4) mashed-up brands. This sits alongside our production of immersive applications, which emerged from deploying machine learning as a collaborative approach to broadcast media content production with children. These methods are highlighted in this article and we also show the reasons for valuing children's material engagement with epistemic processes connected to the senses. Indeed, this is an argument we make in relation to wider discussions in the field that the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into many aspects of digital media production has led to numerous ethical dilemmas and concerns. The realm of children's media is no exception, as AI is increasingly used to generate initial broadcast media pitches, and increasingly the content. Children's ideas about the future are crucial in shaping our collective vision and actions. As theorists we draw upon Kress (2012, 1996); Barad, (2007); Nail (2020) and a range of practices and theories relating to worldbuilding and the ethical implications of AI technology. We also explore the ways in which worldbuilding and fictioning can be used to imagine and shape possible futures, and how emerging technologies might be integrated into these processes in a responsible, inclusive manner.