Ethical AI decision-making in early childhood education: A conceptual framework for children's rights, well-being and educator accountability

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly entering early childhood education (ECE) through tools that support pedagogical planning, communication, documentation and decision-making. While these technologies may offer practical benefits for educators, they also raise significant ethical concerns in early childhood contexts, where children's rights, privacy, well-being, agency and relational experiences require careful protection. This conceptual article argues that broad AI ethics principles, such as transparency, fairness, accountability and human oversight, are necessary but insufficient for guiding everyday decision-making in ECE. Drawing on relational ethics, children's rights and critical educational technology scholarship, the article situates generative AI within broader concerns about datafication, platformization, surveillance, commercialization and educator labour. In response, the article proposes a multi-pronged ethical approach to AI decision-making for early childhood educators. This conceptual guide is organized around three interconnected commitments: protecting children's rights, safeguarding well-being and relational pedagogy and strengthening educator AI literacy and accountability. By translating abstract ethical principles into contextualized pedagogical guidance, the proposed approach supports educators and institutions in making reflective decisions about when, whether and how to adopt, limit, or refuse generative AI in early learning environments. The article concludes that ethical AI use in ECE requires not only educator judgment but also institutional support, policy guidance and sustained commitment to relational, rights-based practice.