Exploring AI in Early Childhood Education: Our Considered Approach

We’ve been thinking a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) lately. Not just because it’s a hot topic, but because we’re always looking for ways to better support our early learning communities across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and beyond — and we believe the technological leaps in the AI space shouldn’t be ignored.

Our approach as always, is to work closely with educators and experts – we start by deeply understanding the problems and challenges faced in the sector. Only then, can we look to technology (in this case, AI) to explore what solutions might be possible. When it comes to working with young children and their families, we know technology can’t substitute the nurturing approach and connections our educators create. Instead we’re striving to use technology to empower educators and to support the critical work they do.

I’m excited about the potential of using AI tools to unlock new possibilities in ECE, as well as tackling the big range of challenges facing the sector that I hear about from our customers. We know the struggle is real and it’s not worth us each going alone to find solutions. I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions on AI and how we can be better reflective practitioners in our use of it.

Now I bet some of you are thinking, “Jamie, what about data privacy?” Rest assured, that’s one of our top priorities. We’re taking a careful, considered approach to AI. As we all navigate the path to best leveraging technologies like these to create better outcomes for children, we believe it’s good to ask questions and be both critical and intentional about the use of AI in early education. We’re hearing things like, “should educators put disclosures on teaching materials when they use AI?” and “how can educators evaluate AI tools to ensure they are providing accurate developmental data?” To only name a couple!

Part of this approach is to start our AI journey with Storypark’s four Responsible AI Commitments. Principles we hold to ensure we consider the impact of anything we create, while respecting the sector’s depth of insight and championing responsible technology use.

Here are the commitments that will guide our journey:

We commit to a collaborative and community-centric approach
It’s been exciting (and a little scary) watching new content such as text, images, videos, and even music being generated by AI. However people will always be at the centre of education, and the professional intuition and insight of early childhood educators is invaluable. By partnering with you and your communities, we want to ensure that our AI tools are practical, effective, and aligned with the needs of the early childhood education sector.

We commit to supporting quality practice
Saving time and creating efficiencies for educators doesn’t have to be synonymous with cutting corners or ‘just getting the job done.’ At Storypark we’ve always championed quality practice in early childhood education, similarly any use of AI should enable you to do and understand more, in less time, without compromise. We think AI generated work should always be editable and able to be adjusted by educators.

We commit to openness and honesty
I know that some of the concern around the use of AI comes from not being able to easily pop the hood and see how it works – as well as stories we’ve all heard about AI being used in unintended ways. To make it easier, we’re committed to letting you know when AI is present within Storypark and how it can be used. We’ll also continue to talk about our AI journey with you and acknowledge the limitations and challenges regarding AI now and in the future.

We commit to protecting your privacy, security and data
Our approach comes with a sincere respect for children, including their privacy and the protection of their information. As the NSW Department of Education (Australia) noted earlier this year, “…many AI platforms are relatively untested and not regulated by existing regulatory frameworks.”  Our drive to create genuinely helpful tools for educators exists alongside compliance with government regulation in this space, and adherence to our already high privacy standards as set out in our Privacy Policy. We will also actively work to get rid of unfair biases in data and our algorithms that might negatively affect educators or children.

So let’s shape this future together. Because at the end of the day, it’s about creating better outcomes for children, educators, and communities.

I’d really love to hear from you – let me know your opinions on artificial intelligence and how we can be better reflective practitioners in our use of it: