I have been super stoked to delve into this topic because I am not hearing much about the incredible opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) in early childhood education. There have been glimmers of conversations but they seem to quickly dull with heavy cautions about the dangers of technology on the young developing brain. Little attention is being paid to developing AI literacy and its related positive impacts in the birth to five years age range. Generative AI and early childhood education are not positively linked together in popular culture through a teaching, parenting, learning and discovery lens... yet.

What we have created are daunting time binds that steer parents, caregivers and educators towards the dangers of too much technology for children versus possibilities to curate the curiosities of youth who are naturally tech savvy and swift. While we lean into modernizing experiential learning and digital citizenship, we seem to keep getting stuck in the mud of how much is too much for our youngest learners. We confuse robots and complex technology with the real time AI possibilities of enriching young children's early learning. This post is my first step into these waters, I suspect there will be ripples and splashes that I want to be clear will ebb and flow with my new learning in this area.

Years ago I was attending a RTI institute in Virginia Beach when I took advantage of an extended lunch break for a walk on the pier. As the sun shone, the salty Atlantic air swirled, the waves rolled in and the beautiful seascape surrounded me, I found myself to be disturbingly distracted by the parade of baby strollers passing by. Baby stroller after baby stroller had plastic contraptions mounted with secured iPads or iPhones attached playing cartoons for the little ones tucked in. As each stroller passed by the chatter of cartoon characters filled the board walk. I felt saddened that the natural seaside story was missed and I admit that my walk away was narrated by judgement as I stepped deeply into the "no technology" camp for young children.

If you search the benefits of artificial intelligence in early childhood education then you will find repeated links describing how AI helps with organization, administrative tasks, business organization, or supporting augmentative communication for children with learning differences. There is little that refers to its benefits in teaching and learning in early childhood education settings beyond learning management systems, language learnings apps, assessment tools, and teacher assistants. While these are helpful technological considerations for early childhood educators, what is missing is the how generative AI can accelerate and enhance children's learning. I'm looking for stories of 'wow and what if' for our youngest learners where educators follow children's curiosities and get creative with new digital tools. If the alarm bells of loss of play and the negative impact of technology are ringing, then it is on us as parents and educators to recenter and reimagine children's digital experiences. The time is now.

So, why should young children learn about AI in their early years and how do we create meaningful engagement with generative AI for the purpose of acquiring knowledge? Yang (2022) states that an AI curriculum for the early years must highlight the importance of young children as consumers who (1) need to know and understand the basic competencies of AI and how to use AI to become digital citizens in today's world, (2) need to be empowered to use and evaluate AI with purposeful guidance, and (3) need to have the basic capability to understand the basic functions of AI, especially well designed AI toys that appear in their everyday experiences.

Two recent learning events are pushing my thinking around the use of generative AI in our child care and early learning contexts locally. Check out West Vancouver Schools AI+Education Summit and Free Range Humans: Harnessing AI in Education. Superintendent Chris Kennedy has been writing about generative AI in education and pressing educators in BC, and beyond, to explore its possibilities. Amazing educators like Cari Wilson have been working tirelessly to build understanding in K-12 classrooms of the immense opportunities generative AI brings through tools such as Magic School. Cari's work in the digital sphere has been long standing and it has been incredible to watch it evolve as the technological landscape explodes around us. She's repeatedly challenged educators to explore technology such a coding, robotics, generative AI, alongside emphasizing the importance of critical consideration related to learning outcomes and educational benefits for students. The shift in conversations in our school district have moved light-years past the dangers of cheating using AI, into using generative AI to enhance the student learning experience. Stanford education scholars encourage organizations to look at deeper systematic problems related to the behaviours of cheating, then to finger point at generative AI as the stimulus for poor decision making in schools.

The overuse of technology can be detrimental to the developing brain. The potential negative impacts of technology on social skill and relational development are real. The BC Ministry of Education and Child Care has created helpful resource links positioning digital literacy and AI as valuable supports for educators, students and families. They have positioned generative AI as useful but not to replace ongoing, fundamental human to human interactions and meaningful relationships.

For young children, extra layers of digital sensibility and time management need to regulated by caring adults. Like all good things, there are boundaries and limits that need to be considered to ensure safe usage of technology and balanced learning experiences ensue for developing minds. Learning how to parent digital kids is important and possible. Establish tech free time and spaces in your home and family life. Model balanced use of technology and lead by example to show your children that we don't need to be connected 24-7. Re-introduce positive forces into your family lives that involve movement, nature, stories and play time. Develop digital competencies in the early years alongside the foundational literacies of literacy, numeracy and movement.

Young children's everyday lives are permeated by a wide array of digital tools and technological influences which are impacting how they make meaning with the world around them. Generative AI needs to be positioned as an opportunity for broader exploration in the early years. The significance of harnessing its positive potentials warrants more airtime in parenting and educational circles. The digital debate in early childhood education needs to shift from how much into how to foster digital meaning making for young children that is formative and enriching. Our children are surrounded by digital influences, let's lean into intentionally providing children with purposeful opportunities to discover similarities and differences, to compare and connect their ideas and thought processes through digital media. Generative AI is here to stay, the opportunity to lift up and out of the debates about the role of digital media in early childhood is now.