Digital Futures: Prioritising Children’s Rights in the World of AI

The chapter examines a  plethora of policy frameworks, ethical guidelines and rights-respecting design principles that have been issued in recent years by governments, transnational actors, including the EU, the Council of Europe and UNICEF, NGOs and other organisations. The AI Act is the first AI regulation which recognises children’s rights in the digital environment as set out in General Comment No. 25 to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ongoing debates in some states in the US aim to establish safeguards to AI companions to protect children’s well-being. Moreover, while many urge tech companies to carry out Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs), children’s rights are rarely prioritised in the development of AI technologies, nor are they consulted in the design and deployment phase. Additionally, big tech’s investments in lobbying are paramount, in the attempt to shape favourable policy frameworks. The chapter also discusses the low efficacy of bans and argues for shared responsibility and multi-level interventions to ensure safe, rights-respecting AI technologies for children.