Critical AI Literacy with Young Children
Sumita Sharma · 2025
Young children increasingly interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their everyday lives. Since AI is not value-neutral, nor are the possible futures it promises, there is an emergent need for AI literacy that encourages children to adopt critical perspectives toward technology design and use. Child–Computer Interaction (CCI) research is focused on cultivating children’s critical perspectives toward AI and nurturing them as ethical future designers, developers, and change makers. This chapter presents the approaches and outcomes of critical AI literacy workshops with 148 young children (ages 10–12 years) in Finland, India, and Japan. In these workshops, children first explored the use of AI in their everyday lives and then imagined ethical AI futures. Using design futuring approaches, children imagined future schools, and their visions revealed diverse perspectives on ethical AI use and design, including concerns about inclusion and diversity, care and empathy, and their agency and empowerment. This chapter presents multicultural perspectives toward young children’s ethical sense-making of AI, showcasing alternative, underrepresented visions and hopes for diverse futures – futures that belong to everyone.