AI plan for Wales: children's rights impact assessment

What decision are you impact assessing?

The publication of the AI Plan for Wales which sets out the proposed long-term direction of travel for AI in Wales. The plan describes the building blocks for exploring the potential of AI in a responsible, ethical, and collaborative way to provide benefits at scale. Its vision is:

“To harness the power of AI responsibly to deliver economic growth, enhance public services in both English and Welsh, and equip people in Wales with the skills to thrive in a world shaped by intelligent technologies whilst ensuring equity for all.”

The plan sets out 4 strategic pillars that will help us deliver this vision and which will guide the resulting actions, investments, and partnerships to align activity to the ambitions. These are:

• Pillar 1 Economic Growth - Harnessing the power of AI to drive investment, innovation, productivity, and prosperity for Wales.
• Pillar 2 - Educating Wales - Equipping people of all ages with the knowledge and skills to thrive in an AI-powered world.
• Pillar 3 - Equitable Delivery - Ensuring AI benefits all of Wales, with fairness, inclusion, and wellbeing at the centre.
• Pillar 4 - Excellence and Trust - Leading the safe, transparent, and effective adoption of AI across public services.

The AI Plan itself, which sets out the proposed long-term direction of travel for AI in Wales, will not have a direct impact on children and young people. However, it coalesces cross sector activity in a coherent and structured way, which are expected to have a positive impact on children and young people, including building digital skills and confidence, improving connectivity and in turn supporting blended learning approaches, and encouraging a culture of innovation that attracts new talent and investment to Wales.

However, the actions pursued as a result of this Plan and which will be taken forward at the local, regional and sectoral level, will have an impact to varying degrees and in different ways.

The AI Plan has been developed in collaboration with officials across the Welsh Government, the Strategic AI Advisory Group (which comprises leading academic and industry experts), and the cross-public sector AI Leadership Group for Wales, (comprising Welsh public service representatives).

Using the evidence you have gathered, what impact is your policy likely to have on children and young people? What steps will you take to mitigate and/or reduce any negative effects?

For children and young people AI can help deliver:

• more personalised learning experiences, with learning adjusted to match an individual’s needs
• support skills development including in respect of digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving
• improved accessibility, supporting children with disabilities or language barriers and making education and access to services more inclusive, and
• more effective health and care services tailored to children and young people, including support of preventative interventions, earlier and more accurate diagnosis of health conditions, improved and personalised care and treatment plans, and early detection and support for mental health issues.

However, consideration will need to be given to how to address potential negative impacts of AI, including: data privacy risks; algorithmic biases perpetuating inequalities and leading to unfair treatment; potential mental health issues caused through an over-reliance on technology and reduced human interaction leading to anxiety, depression, and reduced self-esteem; the impact of mis-information and dis-information; and the job displacement may disproportionately impact young people entering the workforce.

The AI Plan itself, which sets out the proposed long-term direction of travel for AI in Wales, will not have a direct impact on children and young people. However, the actions pursued as a result of this Plan and which will be taken forward at the local, regional and sectoral level through agreed implementation plans, will have an impact to varying degrees and in different ways. As such, Children’s Rights Impact assessments will be carried out on each of these, as necessary, to mitigate and/or reduce any potential negative effects.

How does your proposal enhance or challenge children’s rights, as stipulated by the UNCRC articles and its optional protocols?

Please refer to the articles to see which ones apply to your own policy.

Although the AI Plan itself will not have a direct impact on children’s rights, it does support the protection of, and their access to, their rights in a number of ways. The following UNCRC articles are considered relevant to this proposal:

UNCRC article (or optional protocol) and explanations

Article 13

Children have the right to get and to share information as long as the information is not damaging to them or to others.

Greater access to AI will provide more opportunities for children to get and share information. However, ensuring children have the skills and confidence to use safely use AI tools and understand the benefits and limitations of online information, including the impact of mis-information and dis-information, is key.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 16

Children have a right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their homes.

Ensuring children and young people understand how the information about themselves they put online, or create using AI, is key to helping them make informed, ethical choices about how much they put online, and how to deal problems if they occur.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 17

Children have the right to reliable information from the mass media. Television, radio and newspapers should provide information that children can understand, and should not promote materials that could harm children.

The media is increasingly moving away from traditional channels into the digital space. Ensuring that children have the skills and confidence to safely use AI tools and an understanding of the benefits and limitations of online media, including the impact of mis-information and dis-information, are key to them being able to access information from the media safely and appropriately.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 23

Children who have any kind of disability should have special care and support so that they can lead full and independent lives.

Ensuring that AI tools deployed meet accessibility standards will ensure that children who are disabled will be able to access education and services independently wherever possible.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 24

Children have the right to good quality health care and to clean water, nutritious food and a clean environment so that they will stay healthy. Rich countries should help poorer countries achieve this.

AI can support more effective health and care services, including support of preventative interventions, improved and personalised care and treatment plans, and early detection and support for mental health issues. Providing user-centred AI public services, including health services, will help ensure that all children are able to access those services and that they meet their needs.

Article 28

Children have a right to an education. Discipline in schools should respect children’s human dignity. Primary education should be free. Wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this.

Providing access to more personalised learning experiences, with teaching and learning adjusted to match an individual’s needs, will help support their right to an education.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 29

Education should develop each child’s personality and talents to the full. It should encourage children to respect their parents, their own and other cultures and the environment.

Providing access to more personalised learning experiences, with teaching and learning adjusted to match an individual’s needs, will help support their right to an education.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 31

All children have a right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of activities.

AI provides many opportunities for leisure, play and culture; from online gaming to virtual tours of cultural sites and collections. Ensuring children have the ability, skills and confidence to go online safely is essential to protect their rights to access leisure, play and culture in the digital age.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 34

The Government should protect children from sexual abuse.

Developing good digital skills, confidence and online safety awareness will help protect children from all forms of exploitation. Providing robust digital services that children can use to seek help and advice, if they feel uncomfortable or threatened, is also key.

Work with organisations, regulators, social media and AI companies to ensure the Welsh language and culture is also being captured and addressed appropriately.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

Article 36

Children should be protected from any activities that could harm their development

Developing good digital skills, confidence and online safety awareness will help protect children from all forms of exploitation. Providing robust digital services that children can use to seek help and advice, if they feel uncomfortable or threatened, is also key.

Work with organisations, regulators, social media and AI companies to ensure the Welsh language and culture is also being captured and addressed appropriately.

Enhanced by the AI plan.

How will your analysis of these impacts inform your ministerial advice?

The ministerial advice is that the AI Plan for Wales will not directly impact on children and young people. However, the actions pursued as a result of this plan and which will be taken forward at the local, regional and sectoral level through agreed implementation plans, will impact children and young people to varying degrees and in different ways. As such, consideration will need to be given to the impact on children and young people at this point, as necessary, in order to mitigate and/or reduce any potential negative effects.

If you have sought children and young people’s views on your proposal, how will you inform them of the outcome?

The AI Plan for Wales will not directly impact on children and young people. However, the actions pursued as a result of this Plan and which will be taken forward at the local, regional and sectoral level through agreed implementation plans, will impact children and young people to varying degrees and in different ways. As such, the engagement and discussion with children and young people should take place as part of this process, as appropriate.

Please outline what monitoring and review mechanism you will put in place to review this CRIA.

Following publication of the AI Plan for Wales, the public sector, third sector, industry and academia will need to consider how the high-level actions within this Plan will be delivered at the local, regional and sectoral level, with a clear focus on collaborative working both within and across sectors. It is expected that these plans will clearly set out the timelines for implementation and how progress will be tracked and measured. Where this involves the development of a Children’s Rights Impact Assessment, the lead delivery body will be expected to put in place effective monitoring and review mechanisms.

Following this review, are there any revisions required to the policy or its implementation?

No.