About this initiative

AI is changing how children learn, are we ready?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how children and students engage with learning, often faster than schools, families, and institutions are prepared to respond.

While AI tools can improve performance in certain tasks, emerging research shows these gains do not always translate into deeper learning. In some cases, reliance on AI may reduce cognitive effort, limit critical thinking, or create dependency on tools rather than building durable knowledge.

At the same time, there is still limited evidence on the long-term impact of AI on student development, wellbeing, and educational equity. Building genuine AI literacy, not just tool familiarity, across school communities is one of the most urgent gaps to address.

Hands holding a glowing digital globe with learning and education icons

Mother and daughter laughing together while studying

Our story

This initiative emerged from both professional experience and something deeply personal.

Working at the intersection of digital learning and international education systems, I have seen how quickly new technologies are adopted, and how slowly guidance, policy, and evidence tend to follow.

As a parent, the questions become immediate and personal. How do we support children in using AI responsibly? How do we ensure that learning, critical thinking, and curiosity are not replaced by convenience?

AI Learning & Digital Safety was created to provide clear, practical, and evidence-informed guidance for navigating AI in learning environments, ensuring that technology enhances, rather than replaces, meaningful learning.

The Mama Bear Principle

From instinct to principle, a collective responsibility.

Every parent knows the instinct, that fierce, protective drive to shield your child while preparing them for the world. We call it the Mama Bear instinct.

And when something as fundamental as how children learn and think is changing this rapidly, that instinct doesn't belong only to mothers. It belongs to all of us.

How is AI shaping how children think?

What happens when convenience replaces struggle?

How do we protect curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in an AI-driven world?

This initiative was built on that shared responsibility: to turn the Mama Bear instinct into the Mama Bear principle: the belief that we have a collective duty to protect our children's education, their safety, and their capacity to think for themselves.

Parents. Teachers. Schools. Policymakers. This is all of ours to solve.

Why now

AI could be the greatest equalizer in education, or the greatest divider. Which one depends on what we do today.

Imagine every child having access to a personal tutor. One that explains difficult concepts in exactly the way that child understands, in their language, at their pace, adapted to how their brain works. One that never runs out of patience, never judges, and never costs anything extra.

For the first time in history, a child's success in school might no longer depend entirely on the education level or financial resources of their parents. UNICEF's Accessible Digital Textbooks initiative is already using AI to turn standard curriculum materials into fully adapted formats, adjusted for dyslexia, translated across languages, and accessible to children with disabilities, in days rather than months.

That is the promise.

But the same technology that could level the playing field is also deepening existing divides. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have less access to safe, high-quality AI tools, while facing greater exposure to risky or low-quality ones. And children of all backgrounds are using AI daily without understanding what it is doing to how they think, learn, and develop.

The question is not whether AI will shape how children learn. It already is. The question is whether we will shape how AI is used, before the window to do so closes.

That is why the time is now. To protect our children from the risks they cannot yet see, and to ensure they benefit from the opportunities that could transform their lives.

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The opportunity

A personal tutor for every child. Textbooks adapted for dyslexia in days. Learning in any language. Success no longer limited by a family's income or education level.

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The risk

The erosion of independent thinking. Misinformation presented as fact. Data collection without consent. A widening gap between those with guided access and those left to navigate alone.

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The responsibility

Parents, teachers, schools, and policymakers shaping how AI is used, before the window to do so closes. That is what this initiative is for.

Meet the founder

Dr. Eileen Smith Zechmeister

Founder | Digital Capacity Development Strategist | AI, Learning & Behavioral Science

PhD in Education · Universität Wien UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Ban Ki-moon Center Vienna, Austria

AI Learning & Digital Safety is led by Dr. Eileen Smith Zechmeister, a digital learning strategist with a PhD in Education from the University of Vienna, over a decade of experience in higher education, and extensive experience across the United Nations system, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Her work sits at the intersection of learning, technology, and behavioral science: designing digital learning initiatives that are both innovative and grounded in evidence-based practice. She has overseen learning ecosystems with over 18,000 registered users across more than 100 countries, and led the development of UNOCT's Connect & Learn platform, recipient of the Gold Prize for Learning Platform of the Year 2024.

Her inspiration and continued motivation comes from her three daughters, whose education and future, along with all other children, are at the heart of every guideline, suggestion, and policy she develops.

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