Livingstone, S., Sylwander, K. R., El Gemayel, S. and Atabey, A. (2026). Is there a right age for AI in education? Deciding whether AI is age-appropriate and why. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000399343 (20 pages)
From the recommendations (p.12)
"In deciding whether and how to invest in AI resources for early childhood education, primary and secondary education, three priorities are recommended for Ministries of Education and schools:
1. Consider applying the Precautionary Principle (UNESCO, 2005).
Evidence is lacking for most age groups in most countries regarding the benefits and harms of AI to children. Nonetheless, the current evidence on AI’s impact on children indicates that action may be required to actively avoid or diminish plausible harms. This applies especially to GenAI (including chatbots, AI tutors, mental health bots, companion AI), emotional AI, and biometric and neural-data AI technologies.
"2. Conduct a Child Rights Impact Assessment (Livingstone and Pothong, 2025). Deploy AI in education only when:
(i) independent evidence shows it benefits learning among the relevant age group;
(ii) data is processed in ways that are legally compliant, respect children’s privacy, and do not introduce learner safety risks; and
(iii) it supports the human teacher and their interaction with their students, or it supports students’ learning in ways that do not displace either the teacher or peer collaborative learning. Answers to these questions should be reviewed regularly. In low-income settings, open-source evaluations and regional collaborations could be particularly useful.
"3. Ensure key questions are asked and answered before deployment.
a) Is there prior independent evidence of educational benefit for the target age group? Have developmental risks been evaluated, anticipated and mitigated?
b) Is AI needed for the target age group, compared with non-AI alternatives? Does the tool support or displace the teacher-student relationship and peer learning?
c) How has the proposed AI been meaningfully consulted on with students and teachers? During AI deployment, will children have supported opportunities to question it?
d) Has the AI product been tested independently and locally for children who will use it, ensuring its linguistic and cultural relevance, availability of help, and adaptation for multilingual learners and children with disabilities?" (the references are all in the document)
Photo by Sheila Webber: Narnian lampost in Zagreb, September 2026
