June 25, 2025
The Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications (IIT) at NCSR Demokritos co-organised and participated in The Lyceum Project 2025 event, which was held at the Athens Conservatoire on Friday 20 June 2025. This year’s topic was “Children in the Age of AI” and brought together a diverse and high-profile group of scholars, practitioners, policymakers, artists, and civil society figures.
The Lyceum Project 2025 explored critical questions such as: How can we empower children—tomorrow’s citizens—to thrive in an increasingly AI‑driven world? It aimed at urging rethinking how children play, learn, and communicate, ensuring that innovation aligns with universal human values, equipping them not only with digital tools, but also with an education that fosters their development as active, informed citizens.
Participants engaged in lively discussions, exchanged ideas on steering disruptive technologies responsibly, aspiring to make AI a force for children’s empowerment and the common good. The Lyceum Project highlighted the role of childhood in the AI era, advancing its vision for a fair and human-centered digital future.
Dr Vangelis Karkaletsis, Director at the Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications at NCSR Demokritos, in his speech underlined that “Empowering children in their relationship with AI is a matter of democracy. In Europe, we have a responsibility to demonstrate that technological progress and fundamental rights can go hand in hand. It is not only about protection; it is about participation, critical thinking, and equal presence in the digital public sphere“.
The panel discussions revolved around Balancing Children’s Rights and Protection in the Age of AI, AI Governance, and AI Education including:
- insights on creating a digital world that respects children’s privacy, nurtures their imagination, and protects them — while ensuring they aren’t just passive subjects of AI algorithms, but active, curious explorers of their world.
- regulation, ethical foresight, and legal responsibilities related to children in the age of AI, offering insights from academics, policy-makers and technology governance experts on shaping future governance frameworks.
- AI literacy, policy, philosophy, and education insights and experiences about how AI can empower teaching and learning, as well as how education can be shaped to support children, tomorrow’s citizens, in the age of AI.
Furthermore, during the Young Scholars session, early-career researchers shared their work at the intersection of AI, society, and art.
For more information visit https://thelyceumproject.ai/