Abstract
Since 2022, researchers on the Turing's Public Policy programme have been collaborating with Scotland's Children's Parliament and the Scottish AI Alliance to engage primary school children across Scotland between the ages of 7 and 11 on artificial intelligence (AI) and children’s rights. As part of this research, a series of in-person introductory workshops on AI and children’s rights have been held with 87 children in four schools across Scotland, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirlingshire and Shetland.
This report outlines the findings from phase 1 of the project, which focused on ‘Exploring children’s views on AI’. The research explored foundational concepts of AI and machine learning, seeking to address the following questions:
- How do children currently interact with AI?
- What do children think and know about AI?
- What do children think are the possibilities and risks for AI, both at present and in the future? and
- How do children view AI systems in relation to children’s rights?
Four themes emerged from phase 1 of this work as consistent areas of interest for children, including:
- AI and Education
- Fairness and Bias
- Safety and Security
- The Future of AI
