Book

Description

A child holds a phone in their hands. At first glance, nothing exceptional. The scene now belongs to the daily life of millions of families. Yet behind this screen lies a considerable universe: school, friends, videos, games, search engines, social networks, messaging, artificial intelligence, commerce, entertainment and information. This device is at once a library, a classroom, a public square, a playground, a means of payment and an open door to the world. But this door does not open only onto opportunities. It can also lead to spaces where scams, violence, sexual content, manipulation, harassment and disinformation circulate. It can allow malicious individuals to contact a child thousands of kilometres away. It can turn a private photograph into viral content. It can allow companies to gather extremely precise information about the habits and preferences of young users. Artificial intelligence now adds a new dimension to this environment: text and image generation, voice imitation, extremely credible fake content, conversational agents and ever more sophisticated recommendation systems. Faced with this evolution, one reaction seems obvious: children must be protected. But this statement, however legitimate, does not solve the problem. It opens another one. How far can a society go to protect a child?