Artificial Intelligence in Early Childhood Education

Dear Colleagues,

The world was thoroughly transformed with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 and there is now no way to return to pre-ChatGPT times (Su and Yang, 2023). ChatGPT and other forms of generative artificial intelligence (AI) employ algorithms to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos, and have the potential to drastically change the way in which we live, learn, teach, and work. Early childhood education (ECE) is no exception. Today, young children are growing up in a nearly AI-ubiquitous world (Chen and Lin, 2023). This new wave of generative AI has ignited our hope for better ECE (Yang, 2022) and awakened our fear of its uncertainties (Su and Yang, 2022, 2023). Optimists highlight its benefits for young children and their teachers, whereas pessimists underscore its negative impacts and consequences (Resnick, 2023; Chen and Lin, 2023). While acknowledging that educative and generative AI is a ‘double-edged sword’ (Chen and Lin, 2023), we strongly believe that incorporating it into the ECE sector does have the potential to advance the sustainable development of the field. However, without empirical evidence, it is an impossible task to settle this debate.

Additionally, there is a '3A2S' (accessibility, affordability, accountability, sustainability, and social justice) framework (Luo et al., 2023; Xie and Li, 2020) that has been widely employed to analyze ECE policies and practices. According to Luo et al. (2023), accessibility refers to whether young children are allowed access to educative and generative AI and how to access it in different societies and contexts. Affordability means whether young children and their parents and teachers can afford the use of educative and generative AI and how to maintain affordable access to AI tools for educational institutions and users. Accountability means that leaders, teachers, and parents should responsibly guide, mediate, and monitor the use of AI tools in preschools and at home. There is a need to study how to enhance the accountability of educative and generative AI in the ECE sector. Sustainability concerns whether existing supercomputing capabilities could sustainably support all countries and regions to use educative and generative AI and how to maintain young children's sustainable development. Social justice will address the ‘AI divide’ between those who can access it and those who cannot, the ethical problems related to it, and the fairness for users in non-Western regions. AI might act as a social accelerator, exacerbating the existing gaps between individuals and communities and presenting serious challenges to the sustainable development of the next generation.

To cope with the above challenges and facilitate ECE's sustainable development with AI and AI-powered tools (Vinuesa et al., 2020), we propose this Topic to collect empirical studies and theoretical thinking. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Development and implementation of AI-based ECE policies promoting ‘3A2S’;
2. Assessment of the effectiveness of AI-based ECE programs in advancing ‘3A2S’;
3. Exploration of ethical considerations in using AI for sustainable early childhood education;
4. Investigation of the impact of AI use on young children’s development in diverse contexts and cultures;
5. Examination of the role of parents and families in supporting AI-based ECE for young children’s sustainable development;
6. Analysis of the potential of AI in advancing the ‘3A2S’ of early childhood industries.

We welcome submissions of original research articles and reviews that address these research areas and strive for affordability, accessibility, accountability, sustainability, and social justice in the AI-powered ECE sector.

References

Chen, J. J., & Lin, J. C. (2023). Artificial intelligence as a double-edged sword: Wielding the POWER principles to maximize its positive effects and minimize its negative effects. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 14639491231169813.

Luo, W.W., He, H.H., Liu, J., Berson, I.R., Berson, M.J., Zhou, Y.S., & Li, H. (2023): Aladdin’s Genie or Pandora’s Box for Early Childhood Education? Experts Chat on the Roles, Challenges, and Developments of ChatGPT, Early Education and Development, DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2023.2214181.

Resnick, M. (2023). AI and Creative Learning: Concerns, Opportunities, and Choices. https://mres.medium.com/ai-and-creative-learning-concerns-opportunities-and-choices-63b27f16d4d0.

Su, J., & Yang, W. (2022). Artificial intelligence in early childhood education: A scoping review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 100049.

Su, J., & Yang, W. (2023). Unlocking the Power of ChatGPT: A Framework for Applying Generative AI in Education. ECNU Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311231168423.

Vinuesa, R., Azizpour, H., Leite, I., Balaam, M., Dignum, V., Domisch, S., ... & Fuso Nerini, F. (2020). The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Communications, 11(1), 233.

Xie, S., & Li, H. (2020). Accessibility, affordability, accountability, sustainability and social justice of early childhood education in China: A case study of Shenzhen. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 105359.

Yang, W. (2022). Artificial Intelligence education for young children: Why, what, and how in curriculum design and implementation. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100061.

Prof. Dr. Philip Hui Li
Dr. Weipeng Yang
Dr. Ibrahim H. Yeter
Dr. Wenwei Luo
Topic Editors