CRAFT. Responsible Futures: Critical Literacy and Co-Design with Children in AI and Robotics
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics become embedded in everyday life, they generate new techno-social realities that raise ethical, moral, and social challenges while also shaping discourses, fears, and hopes about their impact. These technologies risk reinforcing discrimination, stereotypes, and socio-economic inequalities. It is therefore urgent to construct alternative discourses that include the perspectives of communities in economically and socially deprived areas (e.g., Morecambe).
To address this, our study engages schools in Lancashire through intergenerational co-design activities. Teachers first identify critical scenarios, after which children reflect on the implications of AI, robots, and intelligent technologies for their lives. This process strengthens children’s critical stance toward technology and supports:
- Reflection on the social and systemic implications of intelligent technologies.
- Awareness of how such technologies function, are represented, and influence behaviour.
- Participation in designing near-future technologies, fostering responsibility and critical design skills.
The study draws on the critical literacy approach, emphasising: (1) the need to understand young people’s views of intelligent technologies; (2) the importance of basic technical knowledge; (3) hands-on experiences as a foundation for reflection; (4) creative practices as a catalyst for critical thinking; and (5) teamwork and dialogue. Fictional scenarios presented as comic strips are used to prompt open discussions, enabling children to reflect on their relationships with intelligent technologies in everyday contexts.