This event will explore the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology on children’s development, care, and protection. The session will highlight the most specific and current threats, identify promising interventions to address harmful impacts and better understand developmental implications, and serve as an open invitation to collaborate and integrate children’s issues across other research and interventions.
This event is part of Georgetown University’s Tech & Society Week.
Daniel Hipp is the senior research coordinator at Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. Hipp is a dedicated scientist and scholar with a deep curiosity about how human minds and brains develop and stay healthy in a world saturated with screens and artificial intelligence. His research on how video game exposure shapes visual cognition earned him a Ph.D. in cognitive and brain science from the Infant and Child Studies Lab at Binghamton University in 2015. He coordinates research initiatives at Children and Screens, including spearheading projects around AI safety and child design.
Andrew Merluzzi is the AI innovation and incubation fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University. Merluzzi has a decade of experience in technology policy and social impact. In his previous role at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Andrew supported grant programs and policy at the intersection of AI and global development. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2018 with a Master's in Public Policy and a Ph.D. in neuroscience.
Mattito Watson is a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, where he is working on understanding the impacts of funding cuts to international development and humanitarian response, and in particular, on child protection and violence against children. He has over 30 years of professional experience working with children, education, public health, child safeguarding, and child protection.
John Zoltner, winner of the 2025 World Leaders in Data and AI Award, is the founder and CEO of AIChildSafety.org, where he works to ensure AI amplifies rather than diminishes children's capacity to think, learn, and create, and AI4SocialImpact, where he advances artificial intelligence solutions to address global social challenges. Throughout his career, he has been an early advocate for emerging technologies in the social sector.
A social entrepreneur, Zoltner established the Safe Digital Childhood initiative and the ICT4D practice at Save the Children, one of the world's largest NGOs, and founded the TechLab at FHI 360.
