Reclaiming AI for the next generation: 5Rights unveils Children & AI Design Code
AI is reshaping the world at an unprecedented pace, yet as innovation accelerates, the conversation about its impact on children remains dangerously absent. From AI-powered surveillance targeting young users, to biased algorithms determining their professional and educational futures, and deepfake technology facilitating exploitation, children are facing direct risks from AI systems designed without their rights and wellbeing in mind.
Today, at the World Forum on the Future of Democracy, AI and Humankind, 5Rights Chair Baroness Beeban Kidron unveiled the Children & AI Design Code, a bold initiative demanding that AI serve children’s interests, not exploit them.
For too long, AI development has been driven by corporate ambition and short-term economic gain, with little regard for democratic accountability and ensuring sustainable benefits for the next generation. Without meaningful checks and balances, tech companies have free rein to design AI systems that maximise their bottom line, at the expense of children’s rights, safety, agency and mental development. The Children & AI Design Code challenges this imbalance, providing a clear and actionable framework for designing AI with children—and broader societal well-being—in mind.
5Rights Founder and Chair, Baroness Beeban Kidron commented:
“It is too simple to say AI is good or bad; like almost all technology, how we view AI is about uses and abuses. And the mistake we are making – again – is leaving it to a handful of dominant tech companies to determine what is and isn’t in our best interests – including those of children.”
The Children & AI Design Code does not call for AI to be slowed down; it calls for it to be built and used in full consideration of the impact on children. The Code provides a detailed protocol covering the whole lifecycle of an AI system, setting a clear framework for developers and regulators to ensure responsible innovation.
Leanda Barrington-Leach, Executive Director at 5Rights, added:
“The decisions we make today will define the economies, societies, and generations of tomorrow. If we truly believe in a democratic, sustainable and innovative future society, we must stop eroding our children’s development and invest now in their creativity, critical thinking, and resilience. The Children & AI Design Code provides guardrails that are urgently needed.”
Built on the expertise of academics, AI professionals, and legal experts, this Code is not just a set of principles: it is a demand for action. 5Rights Foundation calls on tech companies to pro-actively integrate the Children & AI Design Code into their systems and processes, and on legislators and regulators to swiftly embed its provisions into AI legislation and regulation.