In this video playlist, participants explored the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence for young people, examining how AI is already embedded in the services young people use daily, from education to social media. Participants discuss the urgent need for proactive regulation and safety-focused design, drawing lessons from the largely unregulated growth of social media and the harms that followed. Speakers stress that tech companies and governments must do far more to include children and young people in AI development from conception through to deployment, ensuring their voices shape the tools that will define their futures.
Young people’s perspectives featured heavily in this event, and we spoke to Malia, a youth ambassador for NSPCC. Malia calls for AI to be adopted thoughtfully and with genuine consideration for all those affected, rather than simply because it is convenient, and reflected on the environmental concerns raised by her peers, including the impact of data centres on water and noise pollution. She highlighted the risk of young people who reject AI entirely being left behind in a job market that increasingly requires these skills.
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall opened the event and set out her belief that artificial intelligence represents one of the most powerful and transformative technologies of our lifetime, bringing both significant opportunities and serious risks. She emphasised that realising AI’s potential to transform lives, particularly for children and young people, depends on putting proper rules, structures and safety measures in place.
Chris Sherwood (CEO, NSPCC), Malia Dayus (Youth Ambassador, NSPCC), and Antony Walker (Deputy Chief Executive Officer, techUK) discuss the key points.