Updated Unicef Guidance on AI and Children: Shared by Niloufar Pourzand

Guidance on AI and Children

UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, December 2025

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UNICEF has released version 3.0 of its guidance on AI and children, promoting children's rights in government and private sector AI policies and practices.

Drawing on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the guidance establishes 10 requirements for child-centered AI including regulatory frameworks, safety, data privacy protection, non-discrimination, transparency and accountability, responsible AI practice, children's best interests and well-being, inclusion, skills preparation, and enabling environments.

 The update responds to rapid advances in generative AI, increased adoption by children, emergent rights opportunities and risks, and changes in AI governance. New content addresses AI companions used by children, AI supply chain issues including child labor and datasets contaminated with harmful content, environmental impacts particularly affecting children, AI-generated child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate images, and AI in armed conflict and cyber operations. 

Opportunities highlighted include using AI to support learning, increase accessibility for children with disabilities, and improve child well-being. Version 3.0 was informed by expert advisory groups, consultations with civil society, governments and academia, peer review, and a twelve-country UNICEF study with children and caregivers.

"While AI is increasingly a part of children's lives, guidance on how AI policies and systems can uphold children's rights remain scarce."

"The guidance has been updated throughout the document, where needed, with noteworthy additions focusing on: AI companions used by children; the AI supply chain, including child labour and datasets contaminated with harmful and illegal content; the environmental impacts of AI systems, which particularly impact children; AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual intimate images (NCII); and AI in armed conflict and cyber operations."