India AI Impact Summit 2026

ai-literacy-and-building-for-children-in-a-digital-age

6 min read

TRACK:Human Capital
SPEAKERS
  • ​Atish Joshua Gonsalves, LEGO Education
  • Dr. Saadhna Panday, UNICEF India
  • Richa Menke, LEGO Group
  • Tom Hall, LEGO Education
SESSION OVERVIEW

The pace of AI can feel overwhelming and, rightly, increasing attention is being given to minimizing its negative impacts on children. However, it is not enough for children to simply adapt to AI - they also need foundational competencies to understand, engage with and critically assess the systems of the future. Experts will discuss approaches to AI literacy and explore how to build empowering technology for children.

VIDEO RECORDING

AI Literacy and Building for Children in a Digital Age

Abstract

The panel explored how children can be equipped with genuine AI literacy—not merely the ability to press a “magic box” button, but the conceptual tools to understand, critique, and create AI systems. LEGO Education showcased a new AI‑focused classroom product and outlined its safety, privacy, and inclusion guidelines. LEGO Group’s Richa Menke presented the “Smart Play” platform that brings AI‑free, sensor‑driven interactivity to bricks, and argued for a careful balance between imagination, efficiency, and agency. The discussion concluded with audience questions on rural implementation, parental guidance, and the tension between structured and unstructured play.

Detailed Summary

  • Dr. Saadhna Panday opened the session, noting the rapid diffusion of AI across societies and the stark inequities in access (e.g., urban Delhi vs. tribal Jharkhand).
  • She highlighted AI’s transformative potential—citing the radiology breakthrough that detects pancreatic cancer 438 days earlier—as a model for what education might achieve.
  • The moderator emphasized three pillars: equity, human‑centred pedagogy, and child agency.

2. Defining AI Literacy

  • Tom Hall argued that AI is often perceived as “magic” (a black‑box that instantly yields answers). He warned that children may treat AI outputs as gospel, bypassing critical thinking.
  • He introduced a working definition: AI literacy = understanding today’s technology plus mastering the foundational concepts (probability, data, bias, algorithmic thinking) that will enable children to design tomorrow’s systems.
  • Key points:
    • Literacy must be non‑elective; it should sit alongside mathematics, reading, and creativity.
    • Mastery is distinct from confidence: children may be eager but lack deep comprehension.

3. LEGO Education’s Live Demo & Product Announcement

  • Atish Joshua Gonsalves handed the floor to Tom for a live demonstration.
  • Announcement: a brand‑new Computer Science & AI curriculum (released January, rollout in schools from April).
  • Safety & Design Guidelines (presented by Tom):
    1. No anthropomorphising – AI never appears as a human; prevents unhealthy emotional bonds.
    2. Universal Design – products accommodate neurodiverse learners.
    3. Transparency – clear data provenance for every model (origin, training geography, demographics).
    4. Privacy – AI runs locally on devices; no data leaves the hardware, no logins, no third‑party transmission.
  • Demo of “AI Dancer” classroom lesson:
    • Students train a pre‑trained classifier using pose data captured via a webcam.
    • Real‑time probability outputs (e.g., 80 % left‑hand‑up) trigger events, illustrating that AI is probabilistic, not deterministic.
    • Emphasis on bias awareness: insufficient training data leads to skewed predictions.

4. Pedagogical Philosophy – Hands‑On, Collaborative Learning

  • Tom Hall discussed research showing children learn best when building, coding, and tinkering together rather than isolated screen time.
  • LEGO’s four guiding values for AI literacy:
    1. Child agency & engagement – learners are active participants.
    2. Foundational knowledge – concepts stay relevant as AI evolves.
    3. Safety & well‑being – non‑negotiable guardrails.
    4. Immersive collaboration – creativity through shared, tangible tasks.
  • Classroom workflow (“Strike a Pose” lesson):
    • Groups of four pick minifigures, construct a robot, then train a custom classifier to mimic their poses.
    • Structured 5E instructional model (Engage → Explore → Explain → Elaborate → Evaluate).
    • End‑of‑unit design challenge encourages open‑ended application of learned concepts.

5. Richa Menke’s Vision: AI‑Enabled Play without Screens

  • Richa Menke introduced the Smart Play platform (launched January).
  • Core idea: bricks embed sensors that react (sounds, motions) without any screen or AI; this preserves tactile, imagination‑driven play while still leveraging technology.
  • She outlined three tensions when integrating AI into play:
    1. Efficiency vs. imagination – instant answers may erode creative struggle.
    2. Personalisation vs. identity development – over‑personalising at age 7 could lock children into narrow pathways.
    3. Assistance vs. agency – easy prompting may reduce perseverance.
  • Recommendation: design tools that expand choices and preserve developmental friction (the necessary “struggle” that fuels learning).

6. Panel Q & A – Audience Concerns

QuestionKey Responses
How to adapt AI literacy for rural, multilingual classrooms? (Nikhil Bawa)Dr. Panday stressed asking children what conversations they want and using freely available policy‑discussion templates. Emphasised that AI concepts can be taught without high‑tech equipment—focus on if‑then reasoning.
Safety & privacy in AI‑enabled products (Asha Nanavati)Tom reiterated LEGO’s local‑only processing and non‑use of generative AI in current products. Richa added that Smart Play deliberately avoids AI until safety thresholds are met.
Resources for parents to build an AI‑friendly home curriculum? (Nikhil Bawa)LEGO Foundation offers online “facilitated play” kits for ages 0‑12; suggestions include blended structured‑unstructured activities and encouraging critical questioning of AI outputs.
Funding for teacher training in NGOs (Asha Nanavati)LEGO Education’s 5E model and teacher‑portal resources are free; the panel encouraged partnerships with NGOs to deliver low‑cost professional development.
Balancing structured vs. unstructured play (Audience)Richa highlighted the design‑challenge phase as the unstructured component; Tom advocated using the 5E scaffold to gradually release autonomy.
AI for cultural education & multilingual supportRicha noted ongoing work on automated translation and future localisation of LEGO’s digital resources.

7. Closing Remarks

  • Dr. Saadhna Panday summarised the need for equitable, evidence‑based AI adoption and called for a pause to reflect on what we want from AI in education.
  • Tom Hall reinforced that trust, transparency, and privacy are non‑negotiable.
  • Richa Menke expressed confidence that hands‑on, screen‑free play remains the safest path forward while research on AI‑enabled play continues.
  • The moderator thanked the panel, the LEGO team, and the audience; the session formally concluded.

Key Takeaways

  • AI literacy must go beyond tool use; children need to understand underlying concepts (probability, bias, data provenance) to become future designers, not just passive consumers.
  • Safety, privacy, and transparency are foundational: LEGO Education ensures AI runs locally, with no anthropomorphising and clear data provenance.
  • Hands‑on, collaborative learning (building, coding, tinkering) is far more effective than isolated screen‑based activities.
  • Smart Play demonstrates that meaningful, technology‑enhanced play can exist without AI, preserving imagination while still delivering interactive experiences.
  • Equity matters: AI initiatives must be adaptable to multilingual, low‑resource contexts; the core concepts can be taught without high‑tech hardware.
  • Structured scaffolding (5E model) paired with open‑ended design challenges balances the need for guidance and creative freedom.
  • Parental and teacher resources are available through the LEGO Foundation and LEGO Education portals; they include play‑kits, policy‑discussion templates, and professional‑development modules.
  • Tensions to monitor – efficiency vs. imagination, personalization vs. identity formation, assistance vs. agency – should guide product design and curriculum decisions.
  • Future direction: Ongoing research will determine when and how generative AI can be safely integrated into children’s play; until then, LEGO opts for a cautious, non‑AI approach.

Prepared for the AI Literacy and Building for Children in a Digital Age panel at the Delhi AI Conference.

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