Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Early Years

Overview

This project is about making sure that young children, their families, educators, and service providers use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that are safe, equitable, and trustworthy. AI is common in many of the technologies that children and their adults (e.g., parents, carers, educators, service providers) use, such as mobile applications, websites, and conversational toys. While AI technologies can provide creative and interesting play and learning opportunities for young children, they can also expose children to harm and risks, such as data harvesting, online childhood sexual exploitation, privacy invasion, and mistaken judgements about children. This project will create practical and useful resources for adults who design and use AI technologies with children. This advice is important because AI is a technology in Australia’s List of Critical Technologies in the National Interest. It is important that adults know how to use AI technologies that help children play and learn whilst also keeping them safe. As a result of this project, free online resources will be created that assist children, families, educators, service providers, and digital designers to learn about using, and staying safe with, AI technologies.

Funding

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project funding $929,000

Duration

2025 – 2028

Research investigators

• Professor Susan Edwards, Australian Catholic University
• Professor Michael Henderson, Monash University
• Professor Jane Page, The University of Melbourne
• Professor Amanda Third, Western Sydney University
• Dr Victoria Minson, Australian Catholic University

Partner investigator

• Professor Andrew Manches, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Sherri Hope Culver, Temple University

Project aim

This project aims to generate new knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the early years. Education and care for young children (birth- to 8-years) is important for children's long-term developmental outcomes. AI is already being used by educators to assess children's development and provide suggested learning experiences in practice. It is also being applied in children's digital games and content. However, little is known about how AI interfaces with children's play, learning, and developmental outcomes and how to ensure children are provided with AI that is safe, equitable, and trustworthy. The research will inform a new Artificial Intelligence for the Early Years Statement to inform adult decision-making about AI design and use with young children.

Project objectives

• To explore how 3- to 8-year-old children and their adults (e.g., parents, carers, educators, service providers) understand and envision opportunities for safe and meaningful engagement with AI technologies for play, education, and service delivery within Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) services (e.g., playgroups, long day care centres, family day care settings, kindergartens, pre-prep classes, lower primary school classrooms).
• To consult with industry and academic experts in AI, digital design, ethics, online safety, Indigenous education, inclusive education, and/or gender diversity to identify practices that attend to safety, equity, and trustworthiness in AI design and use.
• To collaborate with leading national organisations to determine the utility, relevance, and long-term applicability of practices required to advance AI technologies that are safe, equitable, and trustworthy for young children and their adults, now and into the future.
• To develop a user-designed and expert-informed Artificial Intelligence for the Early Years Statement that guides ECEC educators, families, service providers, and digital designers with making informed decisions about using safe, equitable, and trustworthy AI technologies with young children.

Useful links for educators and families

• Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Schools (2023)
• Australian Government Early Years Strategy (2024)
• Early Childhood Australia Statement on Young Children and Digital Technologies (2018)
• eSafety Commissioner Generative AI Position Statement (2023)
• eSafety Commissioner Safety by Design (2024)
• eSafety Early Years program for educators (2024)
• General comment No. 25 on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment (2021)
• Young Children in Digital Society

Research status

Under application