By Keneth Kitambula
The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents both opportunities and challenges for children, as AI systems become part of their experiences in educational and social environments. As we prepare an AI-savvy generation, it is essential to understand how to maximise AI’s benefits whilst addressing the risks it may pose to children’s development and wellbeing.
These were among the key discussions at the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance held on July 6 and 7, 2026, in Geneva, where global stakeholders explored how to responsibly advance AI alongside efforts to ensure that its governance, places children’s rights and wellbeing at the centre.
Children are quickly becoming part of an AI-powered world, and we must ask whether our interventions are keeping pace with the technology itself. A recent UNICEF analysis, based on data from 10 countries, estimates that at least 20 million children have already used AI. In some contexts, children are adopting AI more than three times faster than adults, using AI tools to support learning, seek advice when worried, and easly find information
On the one hand, AI has already demonstrated its capabilities in enhancing children’s learning and development when responsibly governed and developed. On the other hand, its growth also raises concerns, as without proper regulation, AI can be misused for nefarious purposes, such as manipulating and exploiting children or facilitating the creation and distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material.
In the worst-case scenarios, children have taken their own lives after reportedly seeking advice from AI. One widely discussed case in 2025 involved Luca Cella Walker, who died by suicide after asking ChatGPT for the “most successful” way to take your own life. Such cases demonstrate the need for stronger protections when children interact with AI systems, especially during periods when they may be vulnerable.
Experts have also warned that children in South Africa are rapidly forming close relationships with AI chatbots. Many now regard these chatbots as close friends, while others have developed emotional attachments to them.
These emerging risks raise important questions about AI’s impact on children. If children spend more time interacting with AI chatbots than engaging with their peers and the people around them, what impact will this have on their social development and ability to develop the skills needed to navigate human relationships?
We should be proud that children are adopting new technologies and using them to learn and grow. However, this progress must go hand in hand with strengthening their ability to connect with others beyond their screens. Children must be helped to understand that AI is a program, not a human, and that while it can simulate conversations, it cannot fully replicate the relationship-building that comes through human interaction.
That said, the conversation around AI and children should not only focus on the risks, as doing so would fail to capture the full scope of its potential. When responsibly governed, as mentioned earlier, AI can also become a powerful tool to support children’s learning and development. One important area to consider is educational technology solutions that are making learning more accessible and effective, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Kenya has already launched the National Integration of ICT Learning in Junior Schools Programme, which will equip 10,382 public schools with smart classroom technology to prepare learners for a digital and AI-driven economy.
This demonstrates AI’s potential to advance the right to education and expand learning opportunities for children. Likewise, as AI becomes more integrated into education, greater attention must be placed on prioritising child-focused safeguards.
“No child should be a guinea pig for unregulated AI.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres made this call at the AI Dialogue, urging countries to develop a child safety code to protect children. In tandem with this, UNICEF, together with the governments of France and Spain and other international partners, introduced the Coalition for Children’s Rights and Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
This stride, among other initiatives, could bring us closer to a child-safe AI era by encouraging more countries to join the coalition and strengthen efforts to ensure AI systems respect children’s rights. For countries like Uganda, which have not yet formalised national AI policies, this presents an opportunity to embed child safety measures from the outset.
AI companies have a pivotal responsibility in advancing a child-safe AI era because they design and develop the systems that children interact with. They must ensure that AI systems are safe before deployment by developing the evidence needed to understand their impact on children and addressing designs that create addictive experiences or encourage unhealthy engagement.
There is reason for optimism that if we work collectively and take the steps hereunder while adapting our AI governance measures to the rapid evolution of AI, we can move closer to achieving a child-safe AI era.
The Writer is a Human Rights Advocate.
