Is AI coming for our kids? Why the latest wave of pop-cultural tech anxiety should come as no surprise

By Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University
Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University
Sarah Polkinghorne, Research Fellow, Social Change, RMIT University

As artificial intelligence becomes mainstream, its infiltration into children’s lives is causing tremendous anxiety. The global panic around AI’s co-option of children’s play and cultures has manifested unpredictably.

Earlier this year, a Swiss comedian created a film trailer for an imagined remake of the beloved children’s story Heidi using the AI tool Gen-2.

Heidi’s more than 25 film and television retellings (including the most famous 1937 version starring Shirley Temple) are key to cultural…

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