AI's Impact on Children's Social and Cognitive Development with Ying Xu, PhD

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence systems continue to be deployed rapidly for use in commonly available tools online.  How do today’s AI technologies affect children’s development? Will accessible AI tools erode children’s critical thinking skills? Will chatbots disrupt children’s ability to socialize properly?

On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry explores these timely questions with Dr. Ying Xu, Assistant Professor of AI in Learning and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Xu draws on her research and emerging insights from the field in a nuanced discussion of how children currently think about AI technologies, and the potential risks and benefits of AI for children’s cognitive and social development. She provides suggestions for the ethical development and implementation of AI, with an emphasis on including children in the design process. 

In this episode, you will learn:

1. How children are interacting with generative AI and other new AI tools.
2. What the latest research says about AI’s impacts on children’s social development.
3. Where AI can support children’s learning - and where it risks “outsourcing” independent thinking and critical problem-solving skills.
4. How to tell whether an AI product is appropriate for a child at a specific age.
5. What AI developers could do to make AI tools safer and developmentally-appropriate for young users.
6. Why “co-learning” with your children is essential as AI tools continue to evolve.

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

--------------

Follow Children and Screens on:

Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
X: @childrenscreens
Bluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social

---------------

Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au