Exploring Blockchain’s Potential for Responsible Digital ID | IGF 2023

Judith

Vicky expresses gratitude and greets the audience, creating a positive and welcoming atmosphere. The speaker’s tone and appreciation set the stage for an engaging interaction.

Joey

The project had several positive outcomes for Ugandan students. Firstly, it provided exposure to technology and hands-on experience. Students had the opportunity to interact with students from Japan, which not only helped them develop their cross-cultural skills but also sparked an interest in technology. This exposure to different cultures and technology is important for their educational development and future career prospects.

Furthermore, the project had a significant impact on language and social learning. Students were able to engage in interactive language practices and received artistic feedback on their language skills. They also had the chance to express themselves in both Swahili and English. This not only improved their language proficiency but also facilitated their social and emotional learning.

However, the project faced challenges in integrating technology due to limited resources and budget constraints. The local setup, Gudu Samaritan, struggled to invest in technology because of these constraints. This highlights the need for adequate funding and resources to ensure the successful integration of technology in education.

Another obstacle was the unstable internet connection, which hindered online participation. This limited students’ ability to fully engage in online activities and access educational resources. Stable and reliable internet connection is crucial for effective technology integration in schools.

Regarding curriculum integration, there is a need to engage with the Ministry of Education. Engaging with the Ministry would ensure better resource allocation and adjustment of teaching methods to effectively integrate the project into the curriculum. This collaboration is necessary for the long-term sustainability and impact of the project.

Funding was deemed crucial for projects that integrate technology into schools. The government should provide infrastructure, such as a stable internet connection, for successful implementation. Additionally, schools like Gudu Samaritan require resources like an intelligence system, robots, and computer equipment to fully leverage the benefits of technology in education.

Another important aspect is promoting literacy in online platforms. All students and teachers should be literate in AOL (online platforms). This would ensure equal access to information and opportunities. Educators should be given the opportunity to participate in online workshops and training to gain confidence in incorporating technology in their everyday teaching.

In conclusion, the project had various positive impacts on Ugandan students, including exposure to technology, cross-cultural interaction, and development of language and social skills. However, challenges such as limited resources, budget constraints, unstable internet connection, and the need for curriculum integration must be addressed for the successful integration of technology in education. Adequate funding, collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and promoting literacy in online platforms are essential for the continuation and growth of such projects.

Ruyuma Yasutake

The HARU project has had a positive impact on English conversation classes, enhancing the overall learning experience. HARU, an advanced AI-based interactive robot, helps to create smoother and more engaging conversations by responding to moments of silence and using interesting facial expressions. This not only makes the conversations more enjoyable but also creates a dynamic learning environment. The use of HARU has also facilitated cross-cultural interaction by connecting students from different countries. This provides a unique opportunity for meaningful conversations and a better understanding of different cultures. While there have been some challenges, such as system troubles and interruptions in interactions, the overall experience has been positive. HARU also offers the opportunity for students to interact and work with professional international researchers, which enhances their learning. Furthermore, HARU has the potential to connect students from different countries, promoting global collaboration in education. Additionally, HARU can be used as a partner for practicing conversations, allowing students to improve their conversation skills in a supportive environment. The use of AI’s evaluation system in education also holds promise for fairer assessments, reducing biases and promoting fairness. In conclusion, HARU has numerous benefits and, with further advancements and improvements, has the potential to revolutionize education and communication.

Randy Gomez

The Honda Research Institute, led by Randy Gomez and his team, responded positively to UNICEF’s call to implement and test policy guidance. They dedicated a significant portion of their resources to developing technology for children, with a focus on creating a system that enables cross-cultural interactions among groups of children from different countries. This system involves a robot facilitator that connects to the cloud, allowing children to interact regardless of their geographical locations.

The team conducted experiments using interactive games facilitated by the robot to evaluate the effectiveness of their technology in promoting cross-cultural communication. The results were overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating the efficacy of the technology in enabling these interactions.

In addition to developing the technology, the team recognized the importance of understanding its societal, cultural, and economic impact on children from diverse backgrounds. They deployed the robots in hospitals, schools, and homes to gather insights into implementing the technology in different settings. They collaborated with Vicky from JRC and applied their application alongside IEEE standards to ensure industry compliance.

Overall, the Honda Research Institute’s work contributes to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, specifically in reducing inequalities, ensuring quality education, and promoting industry, innovation, and infrastructure. The technology they developed for cross-cultural interactions among children fosters understanding and connectivity. It has the potential to create a more inclusive and globally connected society, while also shedding light on the societal, cultural, and economic effects of robotic technology on children’s development.

Steven Boslow

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is increasingly present in the lives of children, being used in areas such as gaming, education, and social apps. These AI systems have the power to influence significant decisions, including those related to health benefits, loan approvals, and welfare subsidies. However, it is concerning that most national AI strategies in 2019 did not adequately consider children as stakeholders. This lack of recognition of children’s rights in AI policies highlights the need for improvements.

Moreover, the existing ethical guidelines for AI do not sufficiently address the unique needs of children. These guidelines are not specifically tailored to tackle the challenges and risks that children may face with AI technologies. This oversight is worrisome, considering the substantial impact that AI can have on children’s lives.

On a positive note, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Finnish Government, took an initiative in 2019 to address this issue by introducing policy guidance on AI and children’s rights. This guidance aims to provide a framework for responsible and ethical use of AI concerning children. Several organizations have since implemented these guidelines and shared their experiences and lessons learned. The implementation of UNICEF’s guidelines is a crucial process in safeguarding the rights and well-being of children in the context of AI.

Recognizing the fact that children make up approximately one-third of all online users and an even higher proportion in developing countries, it becomes evident why prioritizing children’s rights is essential. While AI presents great opportunities, it also poses significant risks for children. Therefore, it is important to establish robust regulations that effectively protect their rights while enabling the positive utilization of AI technology.

In conclusion, the increasing presence of AI in children’s lives emphasizes the need for them to be recognized as key stakeholders in national AI strategies and ethical guidelines. UNICEF’s efforts to develop and implement guidelines specifically addressing AI and children’s rights are commendable. They highlight the importance of prioritizing children’s needs and ensuring their protection in the development of AI regulations. To ensure a safe and beneficial AI environment for children, continuous improvement of policies, guidelines, and regulations that cater to their unique requirements is essential.

Moderator

According to the analysis, children were not adequately recognized in national AI strategies or ethical guidelines for responsible AI. This lack of recognition raises concerns about the potential negative implications AI could have on children.

One of the key findings is that AI is increasingly being used in education and gaming, indicating it has become an integral part of children’s lives. Given the significant number of children who are active online users, particularly in developing countries, the impact of AI on their lives cannot be ignored.

Furthermore, the analysis highlights that adopting responsible AI or technology can be challenging. Applying principles for responsible AI can cause tensions to arise, and the context in which these principles are applied is crucial. Developing effective regulations and policies concerning AI requires careful consideration of the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children.

The analysis also emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the role of AI in children’s lives when it comes to regulation and policy-making. It highlights the potential risks AI poses, such as providing poor mental health advice or infringing on children’s privacy. These risks underline the urgent need to establish robust guidelines and safeguards to protect children’s well-being and rights in the context of AI.

Additionally, the Honda Research Institute’s development of robotic technologies for children in response to UNICEF’s call for policy guidance implementation and testing is noteworthy. This initiative demonstrates the commitment to address the specific needs and challenges faced by children in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Collaboration between urban students from Tokyo and rural students from Uganda was a significant aspect of the analysis. This collaboration aimed to enhance intercultural understanding and explore the variations in children’s rights comprehension across different situations. This emphasizes the importance of context in comprehending and addressing children’s rights issues.

Moreover, the role of technology in education was found to have a positive impact on students’ understanding and interest. The projects analyzed contributed to the development of social and emotional skills, further reinforcing the potential benefits of integrating technology in educational settings.

However, the analysis also identified several challenges. Limited resources and budget constraints were major obstacles, particularly in the context of a local setup called Gudu Samaritan in Uganda. These constraints made it difficult to invest in technology and maintain stable internet connections, hindering the implementation of projects.

To overcome these challenges, the analysis suggests engaging the Minister of Education in Uganda to integrate the project into the curriculum and secure additional resources. This approach would not only address budget constraints but also provide the necessary time and support to adapt teaching methods effectively.

In conclusion, the analysis highlights the need for greater recognition of children in AI strategies and ethical guidelines. It underscores the importance of considering the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children when developing regulations and policies related to AI. The potential risks associated with AI, such as issues related to mental health and privacy, call for the implementation of comprehensive safeguards. The analysis also sheds light on the positive impact of technology in education, particularly in enhancing students’ understanding, interest, and social and emotional skills. However, challenges such as limited resources and budget constraints must be addressed through collaborative efforts involving government bodies and educational institutions. Overall, a comprehensive and child-centric approach to AI and technology adoption is essential to ensure the well-being and rights of children in the digital age.

Moderator:
So, welcome to our session on UNICEF implementation, UNICEF policy guidance for AI and children’s rights. This is a session where we are going to show how we, our team, extended team, tried to implement some of the guidelines that UNICEF published a couple of years ago. I would like to welcome, first of all, our online moderator, Daniela DiPaola, who is a PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab. Hi, Daniela. And she’s going to help for the online and the decent speakers. And here we have also, I would like to invite Steven Boslow and Randy Gomez to come, our mic organizers, to come and on the stage and we can set the scene to start the meeting. Thank you. So first, let me introduce Steven Boslow. Steven is a digital policy innovation and ad tech specialist with a focus on emerging technology. And currently, she’s a digital foresight and policy specialist for UNICEF based in Florence, Italy. Steven was the person behind the policy guidance on AI and children’s rights at the UNICEF. And Steven, you can probably explain more about this initiative. Thank you.

Steven Boslow :
Thanks, Vicky. And good afternoon, everyone. Good morning to those online. It’s a pleasure to be here. So I’m a digital policy specialist, as Vicky said, with UNICEF. And I’ve spent my time at UNICEF looking at the intersection mostly of emerging technologies and how children use them and are impacted by them and the policy. So we’ve done a lot of work around AI and children. Our main project was started in 2019 in partnership with the government of Finland and funded by them. And they’ve been a great partner over the years. So at the time, 2019, AI was a very hot topic then as it is now. And we wanted to understand if children are being recognized in national AI strategies and in ethical guidelines for responsible AI. And so we did some analysis and we found that in most national AI strategies at the time, children really weren’t mentioned much as a stakeholder group. And when they were mentioned, they were either needing protection, which they do, but there are other needs, or thinking about how children need to be trained up as the future workforce. So not really thinking about all the needs, unique needs of every child and their characteristics and their developmental kind of journey and their rights. So we also looked at ethical AI guidelines. In 2019, there were more than 160 guidelines. Again, we didn’t look at all of them, but generally found not sufficient attention being paid to children. So why do we need to look at children? Well, of course, at UNICEF, we have our kind of guiding roadmap is the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The children have rights. They have all the human rights plus additional rights, as you know. One third of all online users are children. And in most developing countries, that number is actually higher. And then thirdly, AI is already very much in the lives of children. And we see this in their social apps, in their gaming, increasingly in their education. And they’re impacted directly as they interface with AI, or indirectly as algorithmic systems kind of determine health benefits for their parents, or loan approvals or not, or welfare subsidies. And now with generative AI, which is the hot topic of the day, AI that used to be in the background has now come into the foreground. So children are interacting directly. So very briefly, at the time after this initial analysis, saw the need to develop some sort of guidance to governments and to companies on how to think about the child user. And as they develop AI policies and develop AI systems. So we followed a consultative process. We spoke to experts around the world. Some of the folks are here. And we engaged children, which was a really rich and necessary step. And came up with a draft policy guidance. And we recognized that it’s fairly easy to arrive at principles for responsible AI or responsible technology. It’s much harder to apply them. They come into tension with each other. The context in which they’re applied matters. So we released a draft and said, why doesn’t anybody use this document? And tell us what works and what doesn’t. And give us feedback. And then we will include that in the next version. And so we had people in the public space apply it, like YOTI, the age assurance company. And we also worked closely with eight organizations, two of them are here today, Honda and JRC, Honda Research Institute and JRC, and MEC3D. And Judith is on her way. And basically said, apply the guidance. And let’s work on it together in terms of your lessons learned and what works and what doesn’t. So that’s what we’ll hear about today. It was a really real pleasure to work with JRC and Honda Research Institute and to learn the lessons. And so, yeah, just in closing, AI is still very much a hot topic. It’s an incredibly important issue to get right or technology to get right. It is just increasingly in the lives of children, like I said, with generative AI. There are incredible opportunities for personalized learning, for example, and for engagement with chatbots or kind of virtual assistants. But there are also risks. That virtual assistant that helps you with your homework could also give you poor mental health advice. Or you could tell it something that you’re not meant to and there’s an infringement on your privacy and on your data. So as the different governments now try to regulate AI and regional blocks and the UN trying to coordinate, we need to prioritize children. We need to get this right. There’s a window of opportunity and we really need to learn from what’s happening on the ground and in the field. So yeah, it’s a real pleasure to kind of have these experiences shared here as bottom up inputs into this important process. Thank you.

Moderator:
Thank you so much, Stephen. Indeed. And at that point, we had already some communication with UNICEF through the JRC of the European Commission, but already we had an established collaboration with the Honda Research Institute in Japan, evaluating the system in different technical, from a technical point of view, trying to understand what is the impact of robots on children’s cognitive processes, for example, or social interactions, et cetera. And there is an established field of child-robot interaction in the wider community of human-robot interaction. And that was when we discussed with Randy to apply for this case study to UNICEF. And I think Randy now, he can give us some of the context from a technical point of view, what this meant for the Honda Research Institute and his team. Randy?

Randy Gomez:
Yeah. So, as what Stephen mentioned, so there was this policy guidance and we were invited by UNICEF to do some pilot studies and to implement some and test this policy guidance. So that’s why we, at Honda Research Institute, we developed technologies in order to do the pilot studies. So our company is very much interested with looking into embodied mediation where we have robotic technologies and AI embedded in the society. And as I mentioned earlier, as a response to UNICEF’s call to actually implement the policy guidance and to test it, we allocated a significant proportion of our research resources to focus into developing technologies for children. In particular, we are actually developing the embodied mediator for cross-cultural understanding where we developed this robotic system that facilitates cross-cultural interaction. So we developed this kind of technology where you have actually the system connect to the cloud and having a robot facilitates the interaction between two different groups of children from different countries. Before we do the actual implementation and the study for that, through the UNICEF policy guidance, we tried to look into how we could actually implement this and looking into some form of interaction design between children and robot. So we did deployment of robots in hospitals, schools, and homes. We also look into the impact of robotic application when it comes to social and cultural economic perspectives with children from different countries, different backgrounds. We also look into the impact of robotic technology when it comes to children’s development. So we tried some experiments with a robot facilitating interaction between children and some form of game kind of application. Finally, we also look into how we could actually put our system and our pilot studies in the context of some form of standards. So that’s why together with JRC, with Vicky, we look into applying our application with the IEEE standards. And with this, we had a lot of partners, we built a lot of collaborations, which are here actually and we are very happy to work with them. Thank you.

Moderator:
Thank you so much, both of you. So this was to set the scene for the rest of the session today. So as Randy and Stephen mentioned, this was quite a journey for all of us and around this project there are a lot of people, a great team here, but also 500 children from 10 different countries where on purpose we chose to have a larger cultural variability. So we have some initial results and for the next part of the session, we have invited some people that actually participated in these studies. So thank you very much, both of you. And I would like to invite first Ruma. Ruma is one of the students that … Thank you. Ruma, you can come over. Ruma is a student at the high school here in Tokyo and you can take a seat if you want here. Yeah, that’s fine. And he’s here with his teacher and our collaborator Tomoko Imai. And we have online also Joey. Joey is a teacher at the school in Uganda where we tried to implement participatory … Action research, which means that we brought the teachers in the research team. So for us, educators are not only part of the end user studies, but also part of the research. So we interact with them all the time in order to set also research questions that come directly from the field. So we are going to start. You can sit here. Do you want? Or you want to stand? Whatever you want. Sure. Sure. So we have three questions for you first. We would like first to tell us about your experience in this process, participating in our studies.

Ruyuma Yasutake:
We have online English conversation classes once per week in the school. But we often have some problem in continuing the conversation. With our participation in the HARU project, we had a chance to talk with children from Australia with the help of HARU and this made somehow different. For example, sometimes there was a moment of silence. But HARU could feel these moments and made conversation smoother. Also, during the conversation, HARU would make interesting facial expressions and make conversation fun for us.

Moderator:
During the project, we had a chance to design robot behaviors. And we interacted with engineers, which was really nice. Yeah. And during the project, probably you faced some challenges. I mean, there were some moments where you thought that, oh, this project is very difficult to get done. Do you have anything to tell us about this?

Ruyuma Yasutake:
The platform is still not stable. And sometimes there was system trouble. For example, once robot was overheated and could not cool down. So HARU stopped interaction and started again. But overall, the experience was positive because I had a great time talking with professional researchers who are trying to fix the problem. Being able to work with international researchers, it was very valuable experience for me.

Moderator:
Thank you, Rima. And do you want to tell us how would you imagine the future of education for you? I mean, through your eyes, you’re now in education. So if in the near future, you have the possibility to interact more with robots or artificial intelligence within the formal education, how these would look like for you?

Ruyuma Yasutake:
I hope that HARU can help connect many students in different countries. And robot can be a partner to practice the conversation by taking different roles, like teachers, friends, and so on. And probably, use of AI’s evaluation system can be more fair.

Randy Gomez:
OK. So thank you very much, Rima. This was an intervention from one of our students. But next time, probably, we can have more of them. And now I would like you can probably see. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. You can go. You can take a seat there. I’ll take a seat here. Yeah. The question will be later. And now, probably, we have an online speaker, Joy. Can you hear us, Joy?

Joey:
Yes, I can hear you.

Moderator:
Perfect. So Joy is one of our main co-collaborators. She’s an educator at a rural area in Uganda, in Boduda. Her school is quite remote, I would say. Through another collaborator of ours, the year we had an interaction with her initially, we explained our project to her. And we asked if we could have some sessions. So our main goal to include a school from such a different economic but also cultural background was to see if when we talk about children’s rights, this means exactly the same for all the situations. Does the economic or the cultural context play any role here? So what we did, it was to bring together the students from Tokyo, this urban area, and the students from Uganda to explore the concept of fairness. So we ran studies on storytelling. And we asked children to talk about fairness in different scenarios, everyday scenarios, technology, and robotic scenarios. And now, Joy, would you like to talk a little bit about your experience participating in our studies?

Joey:
Yeah, I’m excited. And thank you very much for inviting me for the conference. Thank you very much. I’m Joy. And I’m an educator from an Ugandan school called Bunamari Budusa Maritan, which is founded, of course, in Uganda, in the rural setting. It has a total number of like 200 students who are in the age bracket of 5 to 18 years old. Most of the students live close to the school, and their parents are generally like citizens. The greatest benefit from being involved in the project has been the exposure to my students. And the project has enabled our students to participate and have hands-on experience that enhances their understanding and interest in technology and other cultures. It was their first time for them to talk to children like in Japan and other countries. That really was a great experience for them. Additionally, a great bonus was language learning, whereby the students were able to engage in interactive practices. And they received artistic feedback on their language skills. You could find that they learned how to express themselves in Swahili and English. What we thank a lot, like the session were well-planned and would really capture our students’ attention. And it had to increase the engagement, the session that we all had during the activities we were handling. What I feel like, in my opinion, what I heard was the project really enabled the social and emotional learning, whereby the development of the social skills, the consideration of emotional intelligence, feeling the compassion for the peers in Japan. They really enjoyed and they learned about the Japanese culture and the school in all.

Moderator:
Thank you so much, Joy. And if you want to tell us a little bit about possible challenges that you faced while you were participating in our studies. And we didn’t have, of course, we didn’t have the opportunity to have a robot at the school there. So this is something that was not, I mean, we are in very initial phases where we do ethnography. So probably this will be in the future. But already we had some other interactions and discussions with Joy. So would you like to tell us a little bit the challenges that you faced, even with the technology, the simple technology that we used during our project?

Joey:
Thank you, Vicky. In my opinion, the major obstacle was the limited resources we had at the local level, both in Uganda and the school being at the local setup. Gudu Samaritan is a local setup that has a budget constraint, making it difficult to invest in technology. And also, we found that the internet connection was not all that stable, like they were used to witness with fear. And it really made the work to, you know, participating online sessions was very hard to catch up with the timing. Another issue we had was to do with the curriculum integration, whereby we feel like there should be a need to engage the minister of education back in Uganda to integrate the project so that there is additional resources, the time, the adjustment to teaching methods.

Moderator:
Thank you, Joy. And what is your vision for the future? What would you like to have for the future in the context of this project?

Joey:
Thank you. Like, the most important aspect for us is the funding of such projects. First, the government should provide the infrastructure for a stable internet connection for all. This is like a basic need for the integration of technology in the school. And you have to find that you find a school like Gudu Samaritan. There is no power. There is no internet connection. What we were only using, like, one phone, maybe one laptop, which was very hard. So in case there is that funding, it will help to ease the connection of the internet to the children. We also need to, like, the resources and the necessary materials, like the intelligence system, the robot, the computer equipment, as in the schools. Like, you find that Japan, you know, the children would feel like their adult students had computers. So this way, like, our students will have equal access to information, like how we do it in Japan. For the future, we envision, like, our schools have not only the necessary technology, such as computers and robots for the students, but also trained teachers. We feel AOL literacy is important for all students and teachers. We hope that all the educators have the opportunity to participate, like, on those online workshops and training, to feel confident about technology in their everyday teaching. Like, Vickie, as you understand, our participation in this project was a great opportunity to our students. And we hope that at least, not only at the beginning, how we started it, but we will continue with this exciting project to grow up and excel. Thank you very much.

Moderator:
Thank you, Joy. It was a great pleasure it has been to work with Joy and the school. And thank you very much for your intervention today. Great. So now we can, I don’t know if Judith is around. Judith, you’re here. Great. So I would like to invite Judith. So as Stephen said beforehand, this was one, I mean, our project is one of the eight case studies where we tried to implement some of the guidelines from UNICEF. Today we want also to take a taste from another case study. So Judith, I need to read your short bio because it’s super rich. So welcome to this session, first of all. Judith is a technology evangelist and business psychologist with experience working in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 2016, she set up IMISI3D, a creation lab in Lagos focused on building the African ecosystem for extended reality technologies. She’s a fellow of the World Economic Forum. And she’s affiliated with the Graduate School of Harvard, School of Education. So the floor is yours. Judith.

Judith :
Thank you very much, Vicky. Good afternoon, everybody. What a pleasure.