Children’s Understanding of Sustainability and Social Equity of Educational Robots: Advice for Educators and Policymakers

The application of Artificial Intelligence in education in the form of social robots is rapidly transforming learning landscapes with little-to-no attention given to the environmental and societal consequences. To effectively champion sustainable practices, children's attitudes towards sustainability and social equity, especially concerning emerging technologies like social robots, must first be established. In this paper, we investigated children’s understanding of robot sustainability and social equity through focus groups with 36 children aged 10-16 years. Our findings show that children’s have a nuanced understanding of social equity and sustainability, although their knowledge seems most advanced in recycling practices. Children additionally demonstrate considerable misconceptions and biases, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive sustainability and social equity education. Our results contribute to the literature by providing a first understanding of children's perspectives of sustainability and social equity in educational robots and may inform the design of future technologies and curricula to foster a more responsible and equitable future.