A U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York highlighted the urgent need to safeguard children from AI, with leaders and experts stressing that AI is now a part of children’s lives and requires rapid, coordinated regulation.

The global effort to protect children from AI risks is led by the United Nations and involves governments, tech companies, and child-welfare groups through the Coalition for Children’s Rights and Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.

A key speaker rejects AI moratoriums, arguing they mirror past missteps with social media bans and calls instead for robust AI literacy and safe exposure within clearly defined policies.

Practical guidance for district leaders includes incident plans for deepfake images, banning AI parasocial companions in schools, and clarifying when AI can be used for assignments while encouraging critical thinking and first-draft writing without AI assistance.

Erin Mote of InnovateEdu urges non-self-regulation by tech firms, the need for independent safety evaluations of AI products, and a global research agenda involving researchers, philanthropy, and industry to understand AI’s impact on education and work.

Identified harms include deepfake AI pornography involving children, AI companion chatbots in schools, and concerns about cognitive offloading and surrender in learning due to large-language models.

California’s new law requiring safety standards for chatbots is cited as a potential model for international regulation, with mention of safety features in tools like ChatGPT, including a study mode and a teen version.