A robot teacher "is very good for learning, but not for human relationships": Japanese Children's Critical Perspectives Towards Ethical AI Futures

Young children increasingly interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their everyday lives, often without being made aware of the ethical issues in the design and use of such technologies. This prompts the need for AI literacy that also implores them to adopt critical perspectives towards technology design and use. We conducted critical AI literacy workshops with 96 schoolchildren (ages 11-12 years) in Japan, inviting participants to imagine and design future classrooms and schools. While participants’ imagined future technologies incorporated elements of anthropomorphised AI as well as magical thinking; these future imaginaries revealed diverse perspectives on ethical AI design and use, including concerns about empathy, inclusion and fairness, and accountability and sustainability. Their future designs also underscored the everyday problems that matter to them the most. With our work, we highlight the need for exploring children’s perspectives towards ethical AI to envision inclusive ethical AI futures with and by children.