New research advancing children’s digital autonomy receives UKRI funding

A research project led by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt is to share in £32.4m funding from the first round of UKRI’s new cross research council responsive mode (CRCRM) pilot scheme, which is designed to stimulate exciting new interdisciplinary research.

CHAILD - Children's Agency In the age of AI: Leveraging InterDisciplinarity addresses the pressing issue of fostering children's digital autonomy in societies where childhood has become intricately intertwined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, for instance through connected toys, apps, voice assistants, and online learning platforms. While these offer opportunities for supporting children’s development and learning, they present grave risks to children’s autonomy and agency through the pervasive practice of datafication and manipulation of their digital experiences and behaviours.

The outcomes of our project will shift the current mindset where children are passive consumers of technologies towards one where AI systems are designed to respect, nurture, and scaffold the development of autonomy in children, and equip them with better digital resilience and competence. Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt

CHAILD will bring together an experienced team of computer scientists, learning scientists, social scientists, philosophers, and public policy partners to develop a comprehensive understanding of what algorithmic agency means for children in the digital context and define effective methods to create AI systems that actively foster and promote children’s agency while respecting their values and rights. To achieve this, the research team will not only work directly with children to understand their needs, but also with diverse groups of stakeholders, including parents, teachers, developers, and policymakers.

Dr Jun Zhao, the department's Senior Researcher, is Co-Investigator on the project. 

Professor Shadbolt added: ‘Agency forms the basis of individuals’ ability to regulate their thoughts and actions, based on their beliefs about themselves. However, currently, children’s agency is particularly vulnerable to technological influence and datafication, designed to exploit their autonomy and shape their behaviours and decision-making. This project will co-design principles for creating agency-fostering child-centric AI systems, and produce breakthrough empirical evidence through evaluating prototype designs.’

Professor Shadbolt joins Professor Matt Fuchter at the Department of Chemistry as recipients of the scheme's funding from the University of Oxford.

The CRCRM scheme aims to:

• unlock new research, approaches, and methods that would not be possible from established disciplinary thinking;
• encourage new and unexpected types of interdisciplinary research not currently funded through existing UKRI responsive mode schemes;
• support research that will be potentially transformative for the participating disciplines or lead to the creation of new disciplines.

Further information about the scheme can be found on the UKRI website.