[Paper Review] The Future of Child Development in the AI Era. Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives Between AI and Child Development Experts

Mathilde Neugnot-Cerioli, Olga Muss Laurenty|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 29, 2024

Engineering Education and Technology9 citations

TL;DR

The paper surveys how AI integration into children’s environments could affect development, drawing on 15 expert consultations and literature to discuss opportunities and risks. It advocates for cross-disciplinary collaboration and proactive regulation to guide ethical, child-centered AI use.

ABSTRACT

This report explores the potential implications of rapidly integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications into children's environments. The introduction of AI in our daily lives necessitates scrutiny considering the significant role of the environment in shaping cognition, socio-emotional skills, and behaviors, especially during the first 25 years of cerebral development. As AI becomes prevalent in educational and leisure activities, it will significantly modify the experiences of children and adolescents, presenting both challenges and opportunities for their developmental trajectories. This analysis was informed by consulting with 15 experts from pertinent disciplines (AI, product development, child development, and neurosciences), along with a comprehensive review of scientific literature on children development and child-technology interactions. Overall, AI experts anticipate that AI will transform leisure activities, revolutionize education, and redefine human-machine interactions. While AI offers substantial benefits in fostering interactive engagement, it also poses risks that require careful considerations, especially during sensitive developmental periods. The report advocates for proactive international collaboration across multiple disciplines and increased research into how technological innovations affect child development. Such efforts are crucial for designing a sustainable and ethical future for the next generation through specific child-centered regulations, and helping to educate all potential stakeholders (regulators, developers, parents and educators, children) about responsible AI use and its potential impacts on child development.

Motivation & Objective

• Assess how rapidly integrating AI into children’s environments could shape cognition, socio-emotional skills, and behavior during development.
• Synthesize expert insights from AI, product development, child development, and neuroscience with existing literature on child-technology interactions.
• Identify opportunities, risks, and ethical considerations for child development in an AI-enabled future.

Proposed method

• Consultation with 15 experts from AI, product development, child development, and neuroscience.
• Comprehensive literature review on child development and child-technology interactions.
• Cross-disciplinary synthesis to map potential developmental trajectories under AI exposure.
• Discussion of policy and regulatory implications for safe and ethical AI use with children.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How might AI integration in education and leisure environments influence cognitive, social, and emotional development in children and adolescents?
• RQ2 What opportunities and risks do AI technologies pose for child development across sensitive developmental periods?
• RQ3 What cross-disciplinary strategies and regulations are needed to guide responsible AI use around children?

Key findings

• AI is expected to transform leisure activities, education, and human-machine interactions.
• AI offers substantial benefits by fostering interactive engagement for children.
• There are risks associated with AI in developmental periods that require careful consideration.
• Proactive international collaboration and increased research are needed to understand and shape impacts on child development.
• The report advocates child-centered regulations and stakeholder education for responsible AI use.