When it comes to exactly how AI will reshape education, work and society, one thing is clear: no one is clear yet. We’re in the messy transitional phase of becoming acquainted with this hugely powerful technology.
However, an article from the recently launched DeepMind Institute proposes that we should be proactive in shaping how AI will transform the world by drawing on key lessons from history and envisioning the kind of future we want through a lens of pragmatism, humility and hope.
Therefore now seems to be a good time to reflect on some of the current issues we’re facing in our own corner - that is, children’s media and education - with an eye to shaping the kind of future we want.
Advances in technology over the past decades have brought numerous benefits, but they have also given rise to some worrying trends. According to ‘The value of childhood: The commercialisation of children's play and entertainment on data-driven platforms’ – a summary of Revealing Reality’s research into how the changing digital landscape is impacting childhood published by the Ada Lovelace Institute – childhood and play have become increasingly commercialised due to online platforms that prioritise profit with no incentive to actively support children’s wellbeing.
The report exposes the link between the enormous increase in digital channels aimed at children and the quiet loss of the filtering stages that previously regulated content quality. Historically, children’s television had to pass through various editing stages, often embodied moral messages and modelled good values. Furthermore, its access could be easily regulated by parents.
In contrast, there are now an overwhelming number of digital channels through which to reach children and, in many cases, the primary goal is profit which is dependent on capturing and keeping children’s attention. This is the so-called ‘the attention economy’. The authors speculate about the potential harmful effect that this slow erosion of substance from children’s entertainment might have on social and relational skills, and the subsequent impact at the societal level.
It’s a similar story with the trend towards high-dopamine, fast-paced overstimulating children’s media. The pursuit of ‘engagement’, which once implied a broad holistic approach to storytelling, in some cases appears to have been re-interpreted to mean hijacking young brains through whatever neuro-vulnerabilities can be exploited in order to keep them hooked.
In an article published in The Guardian, ‘Faster! Louder! Brighter! How the attention economy overwhelmed children’s TV’, Natalia Kucirkova, PhD – Professor of Early Childhood and Development at the University of Stavanger, Norway and Professor of Reading at The Open University, UK – argued that hyper-paced content is robbing children of the cognitive bandwidth required to digest stories properly.
Similarly, experts are warning about the potential negative effects of AI slop on children’s cognitive development. The New York Times recently investigated AI video content aimed at children on Youtube, finding that the algorithm was often pushing “bizarre, often nonsensical” content to children. This adds to the ongoing debate surrounding the harmful impact of social media on children and the growing Smartphone Free Childhood movement.
There are of course many exciting opportunities that AI offers, such as the potential for scientific and medical breakthroughs, and a world of knowledge and research at our fingertips. In light of his recent report, Britain’s Greatest Education Opportunity Ever, Sir Anthony Seldon highlighted some of the opportunities that AI offers education on BBC Radio 4. Listen at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0031t7z (forward to 17:50). However he offered a stark warning too, emphasising that due to its personalisation, AI “is far, far more damaging, potentially, than social media” to children.
When it comes to videos generated by AI, whilst they can be somewhat mesmerising they often leave a strange aftertaste. There’s an almost eerie lack of imperfections mixed with elements of the nonsensical. To some degree, our adult brains do seem able to detect a level of phoniness even if we’re not fully conscious of it, although the videos can also be worryingly convincing and hypnotic. It seems we should tread carefully when it comes to exposing children to this kind of human-seeming but not actually human type of content.
So, the big question: what can we take from all this? There’s plenty to think about.
As a starting point, as is often the conclusion in many of the discussions about AI, one of the main takeaways is: to get clear on – and value – what is human. To be careful about how we determine what the machines can do well (e.g. summarising research, prototyping, etc) and should do vs what we should leave to humans (e.g. creativity, music, original thought etc). To protect intentionality in children’s media. To be aware that just because we can use AI to do something doesn’t mean it’s best for our children. These are just a few starting points to consider.
The title of the latest book by Antonio Damasio, eminent neuroscientist and head of the Brain and Creativity Institute, is Natural Intelligence and the Logic of Consciousness. In interviews he has said he wanted to use the title to emphasise the point that artificial intelligence is a form of intelligence but it’s not the same as natural intelligence which is inseparably linked to our embodied state.
Our natural intelligence still matters.
At Creative Listening, we continue to take a child-centred approach. While the cost-cutting potential of an all-in AI approach to creating media might look tempting, children’s brains are too precious to play guinea pig on. We’re not anti-AI, but we are pro-human creativity and connection. Our focus remains on creating thoughtful children’s media crafted by humans, whilst technology and AI play a supporting role. We continue to take a careful and considered approach to how we use AI.
Need our learning-first film, animation or songs? Let’s talk.
Email us: hello@creativelistening.co.uk.
By Aimy Marling and Luke Vyner