The Challenge

Children in PreK through 5th grade are at an especially sensitive and critical time developmentally. AI technologies are advancing rapidly and increasingly entering spaces where children learn and play—yet the development of these technologies is outpacing our ability to understand their impact on young learners.

The current landscape presents several barriers to progress:

Traditional research pathways are too slow. Academic research cycles can't respond quickly enough to the pace of technological change, leaving us perpetually behind the curve.

Media companies are risk-averse. Many see AI technologies primarily as a threat, or instead, narrowly focus on cost savings in producing traditional content, missing opportunities for genuinely innovative, child-centered applications.

Siloed work limits impact. When innovation happens inside a single university, tech company, or media organization, we miss the opportunity to bring together the best minds across disciplines. This fragmentation also introduces bias and conflicting incentives.

Cross-sector partnerships face logistical and legal complexities, yet this moment demands exactly this kind of collaboration. We have a unique opportunity to influence this trajectory—not through restrictions or reactive policies, but through positive demonstration of what responsible, developmentally appropriate, child-centered uses of AI can look like.

Our Approach: Learning by Doing, Leading by Example

Rather than merely advocating for rules for others to follow, KidFirst.ai will demonstrate leadership in this space by creating concrete, tangible artifacts that inform and inspire future work. We will explore what's possible by trying it ourselves; by rapidly prototyping apps, games, books, podcasts, experiences, events, research papers etc. that demonstrate developmentally appropriate uses of AI technology. Specifically, KidFirst.ai will investigate AI applications across three interconnected domains:

How We'll Work: Research Sprints & Tangible Deliverables

KidFirst.ai favors action over speculation. Every research sprint must produce a tangible deliverable. No theoretical papers without prototypes. No recommendations without demonstrations. To accomplish this, we will work in time constrained sprints which will seek to understand a specific question that is narrowly defined enough to be accomplished in a sprint, but broad enough to be useful, for future research or direct application.

Sprint Structure

• Two research sprints per year.
• Research here is defined informally (e.g. user-testing research or exploratory studies) rather than research submitted to peer-reviewed journals (though we remain open to this possibility).
• Each sprint led by a trio: one academic researcher, one media professional, one technologist (with additional collaborators welcome).
• Each sprint must result in a prototype. We define "prototype" in the broadest sense possible — whatever deliverable is needed to help answer a question, or prove out an idea. To that end, a prototype might be a digital or analog deliverable, an in-person guided experience or virtual asynchronous one, etc.
• Each sprint culminates in a virtual conference presentation where prototypes are shared with the broader community of researchers and practitioners.

The results from this work will be shared publicly on the KidFirst.ai site and social channels, free of charge.

Governance, Funding & Editorial Integrity

The project operates under the KidFirst.ai umbrella as an independent nonprofit initiative, in order to facilitate open collaboration across partner organizations.

Project Leadership

• Ying Xu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Amon Millner, Ph.D., Professor of Computing and Innovation at the Olin College of Engineering
• Randi Williams, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute
• Dave Peth, Founder/CEO Mighty Picnic

Board of Directors who hold mission-aligned leadership roles at organizations in research, education, media and tech industries:

• Nermeen Dashoush, Ph.D., Head of Education Impact, LEGO Education
• David Kleeman, Senior Vice President of Global Trends for Dubit, a strategy/research consultancy and metaverse studio, and children's media industry leader, has been advocating for developing sustainable, child-friendly practices for more than 35 years.
• Kiki Prottsman, Author, creator of The Educator's Workshop, former Director of Education at Microsoft MakeCode