Children, Rights and Algorithms in the Age of Generative AI

If Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is to define the future of education, it is essential that children are at the center of its design and development.Equity, sustainability and social justice must be essential operating principles at every stage of the AI lifecycle, not mere aspirations.Children should not be treated as invisible users, but recognized as rights holders whose protection must be reflected in every line of code, every design decision and every public policy of the digital ecosystem.Achieving this goal requires ethical and practical commitment from educators, technology developers and governments.Educational equity, child protection and social justice must be translated into concrete, achievable and measurable goals, ensuring that AI contributes to a safe, inclusive and childcenter educational environment. Childhood in the Age of Generative AIWe live in an age where algorithms not only organize information, but also influence children's education, development, and emotional experiences.Generative AI has a remarkable ability to create interactive text, images, videos, and simulations, and is rapidly being integrated into the apps and platforms that children use every day.However, while this technology is advancing at a rapid pace, child protection, equity, and social justice seem to be advancing at a slower pace.Childhood has historically been ignored in the design of digital technologies.From the creation of the Internet to the explosion of social media, everything has been conceived with adults in mind, leaving children in the background.Most ethical guidelines and national strategies on AI only make general references, without delving into the specific needs of children (Fosch-Villaronga et al., 2023).As a result, we have created a digital ecosystem where children are not only users, but also objects of data collection, subject to manipulation, and victims of unequal power dynamics.Artificial intelligence, being a technology created by humans, reflects the values and beliefs of those who develop and use it (Williams et al., 2019).However, these principles are not always self-evident, nor do they guarantee that its application is ethical or equitable for all people (UNESCO, 2021).The arrival of ChatGPT has transformed the relationship between technology and education, marking a milestone in the democratization of generative AI.This advancement allows anyone with internet access to use advanced language models, making tools that were previously only available to companies and institutions with significant resources more accessible (Su and Yang, 2023;Lo, 2023).This accessibility has favored educational inclusion, facilitating more equitable, affordable, and everyday learning for children (Chen and Lin, 2023).Generative AI plays a key role in early childhood education, especially in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4, which promotes inclusive, equitable and quality education (UN, 2022).Its ability to