Exploring Children’s Rights and AI

Working with our partners, the Scottish AI Alliance (SAIA) and The Alan Turing Institute (ATI), we are exploring with children how they interact with AI, what they think the possibilities and risks are for the use of AI in Scotland, and how they can become meaningfully involved in AI development and policy.

Taking a child rights approach, we have been asking Members of Children’s Parliament (MCPs) to think about what needs to happen for AI to play a role in keeping all children happy, healthy, and safe. To try to capture as broad a range of views as possible and to reflect the diversity of experiences of children in Scotland, we are working with classes ranging from P4 to P7 in four schools in different locations across Scotland: Glasgow, Stirlingshire, Edinburgh, and Shetland. Stage 2 of the project has now been completed and you can find our Stage 2 report and film, as well as the children’s Calls to Action, below. In our final stage, we are developing resources to support adults and children across Scotland to learn about the relationship between AI and children’s human rights.

Alongside our resource development, we have been working with the Alan Turing Institute on a project funded by the Lego Group on the impact of generative AI use on children’s rights and wellbeing. To find out more about this work, take a look at the project page on the Alan Turing Institute’s website here.

Stage 2 Report

Our latest report is a summary of the progress and findings of Stage 2 of the project and includes a detailed account of the children’s exploration of key themes in relation to children’s human rights and AI. Through workshops and sessions facilitated by Children’s Parliament and a range of partners, MCPs gained hands-on experience which helped them to deepen their understanding of how AI interacts with their rights and clarify their thoughts and feelings on these matters. This led to the development of the children’s 12 Calls to Action (see below).

Read our Stage 2 report here:

Exploring Children’s Rights and AI (Children’s Parliament Report 2024)Download

You can read about our findings across each theme in the case studies on our workshops here:

Fairness and Bias, Stirling

Safety and Security, Glasgow

AI in Education, Edinburgh

Learning about AI, Shetland

The report concludes with what we have learned about what matters to children when it comes to AI and its relationship with children’s human rights.

The Children’s Calls to Action

As a result of their exploration of the four themes in Stage 2, Members of Children’s Parliament have developed twelve ‘Calls to Action’ which identify where children think changes need to be made by decision-makers for children’s human rights to be upheld in the development and use of AI in Scotland.

Download our leaflet with the children’s Calls to Action here:

You can watch the children explaining the Calls to Actions themselves here:

National Survey 2024
Exploring the views of school staff

Children’s Parliament worked with four schools across the first two stages of the project.  Following this, we sought the views of school staff from across Scotland, with the aim of gaining a clear understanding on how prepared and supported they feel to explore the topic of AI with children. A national survey was conducted in May and June 2024. The survey collected the views of more than 500 school leaders, teachers and support staff, all of whom work with children up to the age of 14.

The survey gathered responses on staff confidence in their own knowledge of the subject, what support and resources they had been made aware of, and their own use of AI. A final open question asked them for their views on the impact of AI on children’s rights within education.

Below, we share some of the findings. The full results of the survey will form part of the evidence for the project’s final report.

Findings

The survey results show that teachers and school staff in Scotland currently lack confidence and support in teaching children about AI. Of the respondents, 71% had no or low confidence in addressing the subject with their pupils, and 79% had received no guidance on the use of AI. 93% had not accessed any resources to support teaching children about AI.

Despite a lack of guidance and support for school staff, at least 45% of those surveyed have used AI tools in the classroom with children. When considering the children’s call to action – that teachers should learn about AI and children’s rights to support children’s learning and to keep them safe – the survey findings identify an urgent need for training and resources. A clear positive from the survey is that most school staff feel confident in their understanding of children’s human rights. It is hoped that their understanding will put them in a good position to support children to comprehend the potential impacts of AI on their lives.

Interestingly, only 11% of respondents reported using AI to help them manage their workload outside of the classroom, for tasks such as report writing or tracking pupil progress. This is despite suggestions that a major benefit of AI to the Scottish education sector is its potential to reduce bureaucratic workload. Support for linking the teaching of AI to children’s rights was high, with 60% of respondents saying they would be more likely to use AI resources if they were accompanied with relevant children’s rights context. In the survey, we also asked school staff what resources would be most useful to them. Activity packs for use in the classroom and video explainers for children were the two most popular responses. In the 2024-25 academic year, Children’s Parliament is working with children to create these resources.

National Survey 2023
Exploring the views of children

Over 1,200 children living in Scotland completed a digital survey in June 2023 which explored their views and ideas on AI, and its use and development in relation to their human rights. Each survey was completed anonymously by children aged eight-14 years old, supported by school staff but independently filled out by children. The survey and accompanying facilitation instructions for teachers and other supporting adults were designed and produced by Children’s Parliament. Have a look at some of the key results in the charts and word maps shown on the graphic.

Children could express their views and ideas in more depth through two open-ended questions on the survey if they wished; the answers to those questions will form a part of the evidence for the project’s next report.

Findings

The survey results show a clear need for improved education around AI for children. 57% of children said they know only a bit about AI, and 21% said they knew nothing at all. Combined with the fact that 61% of children also told us that they don’t learn about AI in school, this shows a definite gap in the curriculum on the topic for primary-school aged children and beyond. 

56% said that it is important for children, including younger children, to know about AI, and that the best ways for them to learn about it are through ‘teaching more in school’, ‘taking [them] to places where [they] can find out about it’, and ‘adults talking more with [them] about AI.’ 

A general feeling of uncertainty around AI was also reflected in children’s answers to the question ‘would you like to have a say about how AI is used in Scotland?’, with 36% responding ‘unsure’ and only 32% responding ‘yes’. Meanwhile, a majority of children reported knowing ‘a lot’ about their rights but only ‘a little’ about AI. This shows that greater access to education on AI might support children to be rights-bearers and make informed decisions when invited to contribute their views on AI use and development. 

While feelings such as ‘nervous, ‘worried’, and ‘sad’ were commonly expressed in relation to AI, so too were ‘happy’, ‘excited’, and ‘relaxed’, and children frequently expressed the view that AI is used for helping people. Children let us know that it is important for them to know and learn about AI because it helps them feel safe and will help them prepare better for their futures.  

Exploring Children’s Rights and AI Stage 1

In Stage One of the project the children were introduced to AI and Children’s Rights, and they identified 4 key themes, you can read the report and watch the film below.

Stage 1 Report

The Stage 1 summary report provides an overview of the first stage of the project. The children shared their insights through a combination of in-person workshops in schools and regular online sessions with a selected group of ‘Investigators’. They told us how they interact with AI in Scotland today; their views on how AI is currently used in their schools and communities; what their hopes and fears are with regards to AI in the future; and how they feel about children’s involvement in AI development and policy making.

The children’s work enabled us to narrow the focus of the next two stages of the project to the four following themes, which the children have identified as areas that need further exploration: Fairness and Bias, Safety and Security, AI and Education and The Future of AI.

To find out more about how AI affects the lives of children in Scotland, please download and read a copy of our report.

A.I Stage 1 Report (Children’s Parliament 2023)Download