AI and the Rights of Children | IASEAI '26

Children today are growing up as the unintended test subjects of AI systems, experiencing their potential harms before anyone else. Despite this, these systems are often built without them in mind and without their input. Convening at IASEAI‘26, young people, researchers, policymakers, and advocates discuss and underscore the urgency of the question: how do we protect children in the age of AI? From them, we learn that research shows that 1 in 3 children find talking to a chatbot as enjoyable, or more enjoyable, as talking to a peer. There are already documented cases of AI systems giving children dangerous and inappropriate advice, with some linked to tragedies including suicide. These systems are capable of exploiting children’s emotions and development, and yet hundreds of millions of children are being exposed to them. Meaningful protection requires standards and regulation, global collaboration, and crucially, the voices of young people themselves. Learn more about IASEAI's work on AI governance and child safety at iaseai.org #IASEAI #ChildSafety #AIGovernance #digitalrights Featuring (in order of appearance): Nikhil Gujral – Youth Ambassador, AI Collective Yoshua Bengio – Full Professor of Computer Science, Université de Montréal; Founder, LawZero; Turing Awardee; Advisory Board, IASEAI Stuart Russell – Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, UC Berkeley; President pro tem, IASEAI Clara Hawking – Co-Founder and Executive Director, Kompass Education Tara Steele – Director, Safe AI for Children Alliance; Council, IASEAI Mathilde Cerioli – Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, EVERYONE.AI James Ryan – Chief Strategy Officer, Keep AI Safe Foundation Clara Chappaz – Ambassador, France for AI and Digital Affairs