The Watched Child: AI, Autonomy, and the Future of Privacy
Keywords:
artificial intelligence, children’s everyday lives, pervasive ecosystem, digital identities, regulatory frameworksAbstract
The intensifying presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in children’s everyday lives has transformed the very conditions under which childhood privacy can be understood. What once appeared as an isolated instance of digital interaction has evolved into a dense and pervasive ecosystem of AI-mediated experiences: smart toys that continuously listen, educational platforms that generate intricate learning profiles, and recommendation systems that track viewing habits with remarkable precision. These technologies do far more than collect information. They analyse, classify, and predict, gradually shaping digital identities for children long before they can comprehend the implications of such surveillance. The volume and sensitivity of the data involved, from behavioural traces and biometric indicators to subtle emotional cues, suggest that traditional privacy boundaries are being redrawn in ways existing regulatory frameworks struggle to address.
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References
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Ibid.
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Ibid.
Supra note 6.
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