Resources for AI, Technology, and Children
These resources are for the March 27 webinar, "AI, Technology, and Children."
Research and Reports
UNICEF, Future Present: AI Solutions Changing Children’s Lives Today, 2026. Artificial intelligence (AI) holds real potential to address challenges affecting children's lives, from accelerating access to healthcare and quality education to building climate resilience in low-resource communities. But technology that is not designed with children’s rights and wellbeing in mind can cause real harm.
UNICEF, AI for Children, 2025. UNICEF’s guidance offers practical recommendations for governments and industry to support child-centred AI policies and systems. It was updated in 2025 to reflect the rapidly changing AI policy and technology landscape.
National Institute of Health, Impacts of Technology on Children’s Health: a Systematic Review, 2022. Digital technology significantly impacts children's mental health, with excessive screen time and social media use strongly linked to increased anxiety, depression, and poor sleep. While offering educational benefits, platforms can cause issues like cyberbullying, reduced focus, and impaired emotional regulation.
Reinhart, L., Bischops, A. C., Kerth, J.-L., Hagemeister, M., Heinrichs, B., Eickhoff, S. B., Dukart, J., Konrad, K., Mayatepek, E., & Meissner, T. Artificial Intelligence in Child Development Monitoring: A Systematic Review on Usage, Outcomes and Acceptance, 2023. A few well-proven AI applications in developmental monitoring exist. However, the majority have not been evaluated in clinical practice. The subdomains of cognitive, social, and language development are particularly well-represented.
Canadian Standards Association, Children’s Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, 2021. Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a growing role in children’s lives, fundamentally reshaping their everyday experiences and places—from their homes, to their schools, to other public services and spaces. While the application of AI has rapidly expanded, the tools to address the challenges AI can pose to children’s privacy have not kept pace.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), How's Life for Children in the Digital Age?, 2025. This report reviews the existing evidence on the relationship between children's online engagement, activities, and their well-being and development. It explores key domains such as physical health, cognitive development and learning, as well as emotional well-being and mental health.
The Alan Turing Institute, Understanding the Impacts of Generative AI Use on Children, 2025. This project explores the perspectives of children, parents, carers, and teachers on generative AI technologies.
UNESCO, Generation AI: Navigating the Opportunities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2024. This article is based on a keynote address by Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, at the Onassis Foundation’s festival on artificial intelligence on 4 July 2024 in Athens, Greece.
Policy Resources
Federal Trade Commission, Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA"), 1998. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 requires commercial website operators targeting children under 13—or those with actual knowledge of collecting their data—to provide notice and obtain verifiable parental consent. It empowers parents to control what data is collected, used, or disclosed, with strict security and retention limitations
OECD, Recommendation of the Council on OECD Legal Instruments Children in the Digital Environment, 2025. The OECD provides policy recommendations aimed at ensuring AI and digital environments are safe, trustworthy, and beneficial for children.
OECD, AI Principles, 2024. The OECD AI Principles are the first intergovernmental standards for trustworthy, innovative, and responsible artificial intelligence. They provide a framework for governments and organizations to foster AI that respects human rights, democratic values, and sustainable development.
The White House, White House National Policy Framework for AI, 2026. This high-level, four-page document sets out seven general priorities for the U.S. Congress to codify into federal law. The administration calls for the preemption of state laws that interfere with a “minimally burdensome” national standard; advocates for some protections for children, including stronger parental controls; encourages Congress to let courts resolve whether AI training on copyrighted works violates intellectual property (IP) laws; and backs requirements for companies to foot the bill for higher energy costs, while making it easier to build data centers, among other recommendations.