The Use of AI in Educational Environments and the Children's Right to Freedom of Thought and Conscience

Sammanfattning

This thesis investigates the use of AI within the educational environment, specifically the school environment, and the potential challenges and barriers for article 5(1)(a) AI Act, to ensure the realization of the children’s right to freedom of thought and conscience, under article 14 UNCRC. The research questions are: How does article 5(1)(a) AI Act ensure the realization of the children’s right to freedom of thought and conscience, under article 14 UNCRC, within the context of AI use in an educational environment? What potential barriers are there for ensuring the realization of the children’s right to freedom of thought and conscience? What are the potential solutions to such potential barriers? Through the use of European legal method, legal dogmatic method, legal analytical method as well as elements of legal political argumentation, the thesis aims to answer these questions. Article 5(1)(a) AI Act, provides a good foundation for the potential to ensure the realization of the children’s right to freedom of thought and conscience, through its ability to prevent manipulative AI systems from being used, placed or put into service on the EU market. However, there are several potential barriers that might prevent this, such as lack of relevant research and difficulties to identify manipulative AI systems. There are various potential solutions that might resolve or potentially resolve the potential barriers such as: an increase of investments in relevant research areas; collaboration between schools and relevant authorities; and regular evaluations of AI systems used in school environments for educational purposes. However, it is important that these potential solutions are regarded as parts in a bigger machinery, a collaboration in which each part provides an important function.