The Illusion of Intimacy: Protecting children from a digitalized childhood

Despite growing awareness of AI's harms, understanding of the socio-emotional consequences these chatbots pose to children's development remains limited — and so do the solutions. This event aims to bring clarity to the problem and spotlight existing solutions from experts working across legislation, industry, and community: some addressing the harms of anthropomorphic AI directly, others supporting offline alternatives that build purposeful resilience and deep commitment. The aim is to platform what already exists, to encourage and advance change. 12:00 - 12:30 | Arrival and registration, light lunch served 12:30 - 15:30 | Presentations and panel discussions Featuring keynote remarks from: Dr. Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MITDr. Zachary Stein, Founder, AI Psychological Research CoalitionAnd fireside chats highlighting a range of solutions:Research- Dr. Mitch Prinstein, Senior Science Advisor of the American Psychological Association; John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Co-Director of the Winston Center at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill with Dr. Zachary SteinPolicy- Brendan Bouffard, Associate General Counsel for AI and Privacy at Fairplay- Gaia Bernstein, Seton Hall Law Professor, Author, and Non-Resident Fellow at Brookings InstitutionIndustry Engagement- Andrew Freedman, Co-Founder and CEO at Fathom- Pat Pataranutaporn, Co-Director, MIT Media Lab's Advancing Humans with AI Research ProgramParent, Youth & Community Action- Julie Scelfo, Founder and Executive Director, Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA)- Alex Garfin, Actor, Youth Advocate and Founder, Alethos Initiative- Mick Tobin, Co-Founder & Advocacy Director, Young People's AllianceHuman Connection and Pro-Human Solutions- Camille Carlton, Senior Director of Strategy and Impact at the Center for Humane Technology- Alana Officer, Unit Head, Health Promotion, Social and Economic Determinants, Urban Health and Behavioural Insights Unit at the World Health Organization 15:30 - 16:00 | Networking