
Policy guidance on AI for children DRAFT 1.0 | SEPTEMBER 2020 Policy guidance on AI for children DRAFT 1.0 | SEPTEMBER 2020 UNICEF works in the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere. Across 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. And we never give up. The Office of Global Insight and Policy serves as UNICEF's internal think-tank, investigating issues with implications for children, equipping the organization to more effectively shape the global discourse, and preparing it for the future by scanning the horizon for frontier issues and ways of working. With dedicated expertise in seven policy areas – digital technology, human capital, governance, the environment, society, markets, and finance – the Global Insight team assists the organization in interpreting, and engaging in, a rapidly changing world. Visit us online to learn more: unicef.org/globalinsight Office of Global Insight and Policy United Nations Children’s Fund 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY, 10017, USA © United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), September 2020 This is a working document. It has been prepared to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and to stim- ulate discussion. The text has not been edited to official publication standards and UNICEF accepts no responsibility for errors. The statements in this publication are the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the policies or the views of UNICEF. The designations in this publication do not imply an opinion on legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitation of frontiers. Photo credits Cover: Photography by Tong Nguyen van/Unsplash; artwork by MacWell Page 11: Photography by Ratiu Bia/Unsplash; artwork by MacWell Page 14: © UNICEF/UN0225357/Brown Page 15: Photography by Ayo Ogunseinde/Unsplash; artwork by MacWell Page 19: © UNICEF/UNI96246/Mingfang Page 21: Photography by Florian Klauer, Alex Knight, Sandy Millar, Photos Hobby, Nikhita S, Robin Schreiner/Unsplash; artwork by Gabrielle Mérite Page 22: Photography by Atlas Green, Yan Barthemy, Scott Web/Unsplash; artwork by Gabrielle Mérite Page 23: © UNICEF/Leandro Martins and Ricardo Matsukawa Page 25: Photography by Wadi Lissa/Unsplash; artwork by MacWell Page 29: © UNICEF/UNI341467/Rich Page 31: © UNICEF/UN033826/Laban Page 32: © UNICEF/UN0325562/Pancic Page 34: © UNICEF/UN0159305/Hahn Page 37: © UNICEF/UNI336271/Ma Page 41: Photography by Tong Nguyen van/Unsplash; artwork by MacWell This document is interactive and Please consider the environment designed for digital viewing. and refrain from printing. Contents Acknowledgements 5 Executive summary 6 Introduction 8 1.0 / What do we mean by AI? 12 2.0 / Children’s rights and AI: Opportunities and risks 16 2.1 / What are children’s rights? 17 2.2 / How children are impacted by AI systems 17 2.3 / Key opportunities 17 2.4 / Key risks and concerns 19 2.5 / What do children think about AI? 23 3.0 / Requirements for child-centred AI 26 3.1 / Support children’s development and well-being 28 3.2 / Ensure inclusion of and for children 28 3.3 / Prioritize fairness and non-discrimination for children 29 3.4 / Protect children’s data and privacy 30 3.5 / Ensure safety for children 32 3.6 / Provide transparency, explainability and accountability for children 33 3.7 / Empower governments and businesses with knowledge of AI and 35 children’s rights 3.8 / Prepare children for present and future developments in AI 36 3.9 / Create an enabling environment for child-centred AI 37 Special sections Case studies: Opportunities or risks? 21 Foundations for child-centred AI 24 Overview: Requirements and recommendations 39 Next steps: Feedback and pilot testing 42 References 43 Acknowledgements This policy guidance is the culmination of the work of numerous individuals and organizations. It was produced by UNICEF’s Office of Global Insight and Policy, under the guidance of Laurence Chandy (Director) and Jasmina Byrne (Chief, Policy Unit). Virginia Dignum (Umeå University), Klara Pigmans (ALLAI), Steven Vosloo and Melanie Penagos (UNICEF) authored the policy guidance. UNICEF is grateful to the members of the expert advisory board for their overall project support and inputs into the policy guidance: Baroness Beeban Kidron (5Rights Foundation); Sandra Cortesi and Urs Gasser (Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University); Alpesh Shah, John C. Havens and Konstantinos Karachalios (IEEE Standards Association); Maria Luciana Axente (PricewaterhouseCoopers, United Kingdom); Jussi Kivipuro (UNICEF Finland); and Eddan Katz, Kay Firth-Butterfield and Seth Bergeson (World Economic Forum). We wish to thank the following colleagues and experts who provided valuable inputs during the consultation and review process: Manpreet Singh (5Rights Foundation); Angela Vigil, Jose Angelo Tiglao, Reena Mitra-Ventanilla, Selynn Alexis Co (Baker & McKenzie); Alexa Hasse and Ryan Budish (Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University); Alexandre Barbosa, Fabio Senne and Luísa Adib Dino (Cetic.br); Office of the Commissioner for Children and Tech.mt (Government of Malta); Shafika Isaacs (independent consultant); Carla Licciardello, Preetam Maloor and Sadhvi Saran (ITU); Eileen Donahoe (Stanford University); Alexa Koenig (UC Berkeley); Cédric Wachholz, Dafna Feinholz, Maksim Karliuk, Prateek Sibal, Sasha Rubel and Tee Wee Ang (UNESCO); Josianne Galea Baron, Manel Stambouli, Manuel Garcia Herranz, Marina Komarecki, Miles Hastie, Sigrun Kaland and Vedran Sekara (UNICEF); Irene Leino (formerly UNICEF Finland). Additional thanks are owed to the many experts and children who participated in the policy guidance consultation workshops, those who helped organize the workshops, and the experts who took the survey. Special thanks to Katarzyna Pawelczyk and Maria Jose Ravalli (UNICEF) who developed the child consultation methodology and managed the child consultation process. This project is made possible by funding and technical support from the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs, Finland. We are grateful for their continued partnership and com- mitment to child rights, under the guidance of Ambassador Jarmo Sareva. > Art direction: Kathleen Edison > Design: Gabrielle Mérite > Copy editing: Eve Leckey Acknowledgements 5 Executive summary Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are fundamentally changing the According to the OECD, artificial world and affecting present and future generations of children. intelligence (AI) refers to machine- Children are already interacting with AI technologies in many dif- based systems that, given a set ferent ways: they are embedded in toys, virtual assistants and video of human-defined objectives, can games, and are used to drive chatbots and adaptive learning soft- make predictions, recommendations, or decisions that influence real or ware. Algorithms provide recommendations to children on what virtual environments. videos to watch next, what news to read, what music to listen to and who to be friends with. In addition to these direct interactions between children and AI, children’s lives and well-being are also indirectly im- pacted by automated decision-making systems that determine issues as var- ied as welfare subsidies, quality of health care and education access, and their families’ housing applications. This impact has implications for all children, in- cluding those from developing countries who may be equally impacted by lost opportunities as a result of not being able to enjoy the benefits of AI systems. As the world’s leading organization for children, UNICEF recognizes the po- tential that AI systems have for supporting every child’s development. We are leveraging AI systems to improve our programming, including mapping the digital connectivity of schools, predicting the spread of diseases and improv- ing poverty estimation. While AI is a force for innovation and can support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it also poses risks for children, such as to their privacy, safety and security. Since AI systems can work unnoticed and at great scale, the risk of widespread exclusion and dis- crimination is real. As more and more decisions are delegated to intelligent sys- tems, we are also forced, in the words of a UN High Level Panel, to “rethink our understandings of human dignity and agency, as algorithms are increasingly sophisticated at manipulating our choices.”¹ For children’s agency, this rethink- ing is critical. Due to the extensive social, economic and ethical implications of AI technologies, governments and many organizations are setting guidelines for its development and implementation. However, even though the rights of children need acute attention in the digital age,² this is not being reflected in the global policy and implementation efforts to make AI systems serve society better. Simply put: children interact with or are impacted by AI systems that are not designed for them, and current policies do not address this. Furthermore, whatever is known about how children interact with and are impacted by AI is just the start. The disruptive effects of AI will transform children’s lives in ways we cannot yet understand, for better or for worse. Our collective actions on AI today are critical for shaping a future that children deserve. Efforts to democratize the benefits of AI systems for all
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