Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
AI literacy
environmental impact
children's reasoning
systems thinking
artificial intelligence
Where Does AI Leave a Footprint? Children's Reasoning About AI's Environmental Costs
🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the limited awareness among children regarding the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) usage. To bridge this gap, we propose EcoPrompt—an interactive system that integrates prompt-level environmental footprint estimation with an engaging simulation game, introducing systems thinking into AI environmental cost education for the first time. Through two rounds of participatory design involving 16 children aged 6–12, the research uncovers how children conceptualize the connections between AI and natural resources, navigate trade-offs, and exercise agency. Findings demonstrate that EcoPrompt effectively fosters children’s sense of responsibility toward the socio-ecological consequences of AI, offering an innovative pathway for expanding AI literacy education tailored to young learners.
📝 Abstract
Two of the most socially consequential issues facing today's children are the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rapid changes to the earth's climate. Both issues are complex and contested, and they are linked through the notable environmental costs of AI use. Using a systems thinking framework, we developed an interactive system called Ecoprompt to help children reason about the environmental impact of AI. EcoPrompt combines a prompt-level environmental footprint calculator with a simulation game that challenges players to reason about the impact of AI use on natural resources that the player manages. We evaluated the system through two participatory design sessions with 16 children ages 6-12. Our findings surfaced children's perspectives on societal and environmental tradeoffs of AI use, as well as their sense of agency and responsibility. Taken together, these findings suggest opportunities for broadening AI literacy to include systems-level reasoning about AI's environmental impact.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
systems thinking
AI literacy
environmental impact
children
interactive system
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