Thread by @steveparks

The average age for children to get their first smartphone is now 9. There are benefits in terms of connectivity & fun - but psychologists have identified an impact on the health & happiness of children too. How can that be minimised?
The BBC thinks AI is part of the answer...

Alice Webb, Director of Children’s at the BBC, soft launched ‘BBC Own It’ today at the #BBCTechConf in Broadcasting House. It’s a new smartphone app using artificial intelligence to help protect and support children on their devices...
bbc.com/ownit

The app includes a keyboard for smartphones, meaning it can be part of all the child’s interactions in messaging apps. It uses AI to identify problem behaviour and educate. An emoticon on the left of the keyboard gives feedback to the child on their message...

For some situations they guide children to supporting information - and most of this leads to helping the child feel able to talk to their parents about it

And the app also prompts children to record their emotional status, partly to get them to pause and be aware of it, and to give them feedback and nudges when there’s a problem... and also allowing them to review it as a pattern...

The BBC emphasises that (a) all content, data and the analysis of it stay on the device, they don’t upload anything and (b) they don’t stop the child doing anything, they just give feedback and educate

This makes me think back to other points in its history that the BBC has been able to make a positive impact in the adoption of technology by children in a safe way - the BBC Micro, the Domesday book project, and others

The BBC has a unique position as a trusted public service, without distorting ulterior motives to sell anything or gather data. A quick play with the app and it seems like a great idea. A friend who has worked on the project says ‘I wish there was one for adults!’

The app is already available in the app stores for each device, so you can install and try it already.
The official launch will be in November.
Find out more at bbc.com/ownit

This will also be interesting for those who are working with #AI to study - looking at the implementation, and the ethical considerations that have been made. It apparently took huge work to have all the processing take place on the device, but was vital to privacy.

And my main thought now is - how can we get this installed on Trump’s phone?!