Children’s A.I Calls to Action

Taking a children’s human rights approach, we asked Members of Children’s Parliament to think about what needs to change for A.I to play a positive role in keeping all children healthy, happy and safe. The participating children were aged 8 to 12 years and attended primary schools in Glasgow, Stirling, Edinburgh, Shetland and Dundee.

Following the children’s investigation and direct engagement with A.I, they developed and shared 12 Calls to Action under the themes of Fairness and Bias, Safety and Security, A.I. in Education, and Learning about A.I. The children’s Calls to Action have already influenced policy and guidance on the use of A.I across Scotland.

Fairness and Bias

1. Children have the right to be included, to have a say, and to be listened to. Adults need to ask children for their views when they are making decisions about designing or using A.I. If it is only adults making A.I. systems, the A.I. systems won’t understand children.

2. Lots of different people, including children, should be involved in A.I. development. To avoid bias, they need to take everybody’s lives into account.

3. Adults must ensure that the use of A.I. does not have a negative impact on any children’s rights, for example the right to appropriate and accurate information, or the right to protection from discrimination.

Safety and Security 

4. There should be rules about how much and what data companies are allowed to gather about children. Companies should not collect or share data from children unless it is absolutely necessary.

5. Companies should not use children’s data to train A.I. systems without children being asked.

6. Children feel A.I. can’t always be trusted and isn’t always safe –more child-friendly information about A.I. is needed, to help children make informed choices.

A.I. in Education

7. A.I. might not understand neurodivergent children and how they learn in different ways. Decision-makers must take this into account when deciding what A.I. systems can be used in schools. A.I. systems need to include and support all children and their human rights.

8. Teachers can use A.I. systems to help make learning fun – children learn better when it’s fun. Teachers should be supported to use A.I. appropriately in class.

9. A.I. should support, not replace, teachers. Teachers understand children’s feelings and children think this is really important.

Learning about A.I.

10. A.I. should be in the curriculum. A.I. will be a part of all children’s lives, so they need to learn and understand what it means before they grow up.

11. More children should know about A.I. so they can understand what’s happening when they use it. This will help to make sure children’s rights are respected. The more children learn about A.I., the more they will know how to keep themselves safe.

12. Teachers should learn about A.I. and children’s rights to support children’s learning and help to keep them safe.

Watch the film below to learn more about the children’s development of their Calls to Action:

A PDF booklet for the Children’s A.I Calls to Action can be downloaded here: