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Materials that talk about the environmental impact of AI, responsible use, hyperdigitization, etc. – plug & play modules educators could use

Alternatives to AI

Workshops on dealing with the social consequences of tech

Programs should use dilemmas connected to young people’s experiences

Long-term curricula for critical thinking development

Use games, pop-ups, and gamified learning for hard-to-reach young people

Materials adapted for young people, “we” usually miss

Workshops that teach educators on: instructions on how to use free, non-monetising tools; Linux; platforms for DE googling; DuckDuckGo; privacy-sensitive noncommercial stuff. Use Netboard instead of Padlet.

Also videos and podcasts on key topics

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In short, there is a need for further networking opportunities (both online and offline) provided to youth workers, to share best practices as well as mistakes and challenges. These spaces should be safe spaces to feel lost and have honest sharing.

Networking can & should have 2 different target groups: 1. With fellow youth workers in the same field to create a community, and 2. Cross-sectoral networking with inputs from other fields (eg. tech workers, developers, formal educators…)

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low threshold project calls

Meeting to develope gamification methods about digital citizenship and ethical use of AI

Specific calls for rural areas

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1. More opportunities and specific calls and programs in direction of AI like CERV program but specifically connected with digital era challenges. 2. Grant calls for partnership and capacity building between grassroots youth work organisation and media sector.

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We think that f.e. twice a year it could be interesting to have a webinar with an “expert” like Peterri or Veronica to stay up to date on the advancements of AI and the new findings regarding a more ethical usage.

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Environmental impact of AI

How to identify dis/mis/mal -information

Responsabile use of AI

Risks and consequences of hyper digitalization

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We suggest the development of a handbook with artistic/creative and theatrical methods about critical thinking in a digital age.

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App or online platform for youth workers & young people

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App or online platform for youth workers & young people

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A space to match international connections and build networks — combining the simplicity of Tinder with the professional focus of LinkedIn, tailored for the youth sector.

Key features:

1. People nearby — find youth leaders, mentors, activists and experts open to collaboration, filtered by topic (democracy, ecology, gender equality, media literacy, digital rights)

2. Knowledge base — upload and download materials from EU Partnership, Council of Europe, youth centres and beyond; including resources such as T-ket and self-organisation guides

3. Map & database of youth spaces worldwide — centres, hubs, co-working spaces, incubators — with an option to book spaces directly in the app

4. Opportunities — internships, volunteering, exchanges, grants and residencies, all in one place

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Professional competences framework for youth workers about AI and critical thinking. Including special trainings, especially E-learning program and webinars for easier access.

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Resoursebook with tools, there exist lots of stuff but it is difficult to choose one specifically, to find suitable one. Too much information also creates informational vacuum and less access to specific information and tools needed. Also to include the tools verified by Council of Europe as safe and ethical ones.

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Topics: AI, media literacy and critical thinking

Including more practical goals for the exercises

Empower young people and teach them how to bring their opinions in policymaking

Using natural language instead of academic words

Making it AI-native

Increase relatedness by sharing human testimonials

Tips & tricks

Encourage member states to use it as a baseline to build up on

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Game by fact-checking for better understanding different contexts for different countries and youth in it 

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Game by fact-checking for better understanding different contexts for different countries and youth in it 

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Game about different news and events in different countries - members of Council of Europe. It is about youth and digital prefences with checking facts - is it true or fake and short explanation why is it so. And we can discover one country deeply or make mix questions about different countries.

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Taking example from the U.S., we call upon the European Commission and Council of Europe to dedicate funding for organising CoE-level and national-level game jams for gamified learning experiences themed around critical thinking, AI, media literacy.

This initiative supports both young people, but also the gaming sector, especially valuable for indie studies and aspiring designers/artists

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International competition "How to use  digital-tools"

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International competition "How to use  digital-tools"

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it could have different levels like

- local

- regional

- national

- international

it is similar to "What? Where? When?", where we have some teams and some different tasks for understanding using of digital tools in our usual life

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More democratic and human rights education 

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More democratic and human rights education 

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For critical thinking it’s fundamental to agree on human rights. We need more education on human rights for democratic resilience. Specifically we find it crucial to agree on the fact that every human has same dignity. We need to sensibilise more on transgender rights and on the necessity of stopping the discrimination of immigrants as we are all humans. Not only cisgender heterosexual Europeans are humans.

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Training on the use of AI-tools for diverse target audiences across national and local levels, tailored to their real needs and specific contexts

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Training on the use of AI-tools for diverse target audiences across national and local levels, tailored to their real needs and specific contexts

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The idea is to design these trainings in a way that they are not generic, but context-sensitive — taking into account factors such as digital literacy, access to technology, professional background, and the socio-economic environment.

This would include adapting content for youth, educators, public sector workers, and community leaders, ensuring practical application and relevance in their daily work and decision-making.

At the same time, there is a significant gap in qualified specialists who are able to design and deliver such context-based trainings. Many existing AI-related programs focus on abstract or highly technical concepts that are difficult to understand and not directly applicable, especially for younger audiences.

This creates a disconnect between the content of the trainings and the actual needs of participants, highlighting the importance of developing more accessible, practice-oriented, and audience-centered learning approaches.

That's why we need trainings like "how to do your homework with AI smart"

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Tips & Tricks for Youth Work / Field Notes for Youth Workers

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Tips & Tricks for Youth Work / Field Notes for Youth Workers

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Create a practical “Tips & Tricks” blog for youth workers and young people that shares real-life, field-based experiences — what works, what doesn’t, and how to act in specific situations.

The idea is to provide short, actionable, and easy-to-apply insights based on real cases, rather than abstract theory.

Content would include situation-based solutions, common mistakes, quick tips, and ready-to-use tools (templates, checklists, training formats), as well as simplified guidance on using Artificial Intelligence in youth work.

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More networking and practices exchange opportunities, as well as a sense of community - where to feel safe to say out loud that we are lost - and that we feel overwhelmed by the expectation as youth workers to know more and to be the ones guiding young people and help them navigate safely and aware in the digital spaces, but where to also have some expert knowledge brought for the community - both online, but face2face meetings as well

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Capacity building for youth workers to know how to use different digital tools to support their work

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We need up to dated and modern informational resources, easy to access and follow - as videos, podcasts

Resources for youth workers are needed - educational resources from CoE, for example, which are more trusted and valuable for youth workers (as we know already that things coming from CoE were already looked at through a Human Rights lenses), but they are also easy to be used in youth work

Resources as T-Kits, for example, are not so known - even though they can be used also by other professionals/students, not only youth workers or ppl working in youth organisations

Using Erasmus funds (KA1, for example) for organising youth workers mobilities for creating spaces for exchange, for learning, for experts' inputs

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AI extension that limits responses so you get  suport, not answers 

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AI extension that limits responses so you get  suport, not answers 

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Youth workers are inclined to think critically, but they don’t have the skills in argument analysis, inductive and deductive reasoning, questioning assumptions, identifying causal links, quantitative reasoning.

For media literacy specifically spotting bias, misinformation, and algorithmic effects

Build their own disposition to think critically, not just the skills

AI thinking – learning to understand how AI works

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Develop critical thinking through long-term interventions

Keep social-related soft skills, how to connect, build relationships, build trust, don’t develop “single point of verification”, have them more involved in owning the process, problems in digital world are symptomatic, not source

Mentorship approach in the development of critical thinking

And learn about using existing resources

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It’s easier to set a mind than to change a mind! 

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It’s easier to set a mind than to change a mind! 

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So we need more cooperations between formal education providers and non-formal education providers, as well as other stakeholders working on the topic of critical thinking - Erasmus offering and encouraging more opportunities, with funding included, for common initiatives.

A structural change would also be needed in restructuring and reprioritising the subjects in schools - we need more prioritisation on learning about democracy!

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To know how to use digital tools to support our work

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To know how to use digital tools to support our work

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More creative social media

Like making attractive presentation

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First we should decide what is the aim of the term youth work and AI:

- are we trying to teach young people to be AI experts (is that a core role of youth work) or

- raise awareness, help young people recognize both opportunities and risks of AI and support young people to become critical, ethical, and creative users of AI??.

If the second question is the answer, youth workers are not supposed to be AI experts.

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More pressure on the member states to include EDC and HRE in the formal education curricula

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-        Resources and materials on AI literacy

Examples of concrete activities, workshops that are devepoled based on the methodolgy of non formal education and human rights education and adopted to AI reality between young people (misinformation and deepfakes, fact checking, bias, risks, prompting, creativity with AI, concrete examples of risks and opportunities)

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Seminar, webinars on essentials of youth work +AI

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Promoption and recognition of youth work and how important it is to do raise awareness about AI

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mapping good practices of youth work + AI and understanding the reality of AI youth work in Europe

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Create free, scenario-based assessment tools designed for youth settings.

Use simple pre/post reflection instruments to measure real programme impact – youth work alternative to CRT test

Digital licenses on internet knowledge, system where you earn “licence” or badge to do Instagram

Cause and effect games or activities

Exploring biases self check tools for educators - https://www.hownormalami.eu/

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Sources

Language Use

This project purposefully avoids using the word "Artificial Intelligence", since there is nothing intelligent about these systems. I prefer to use the terms "machine learning" or "statistics on steroids", but I've settled on algorithms here.

Machine Learning models

Almost all the machine learning models used were downloaded "pre-trained" from open source projects I found on Github. This was done to make a point: we often say we should improve biased and/or error-prone machine learning models, but the reality is that most organisations don't train their own models. Instead, they use third parties that supply machine learning services, and it's in the interest of these parties to keep their systems as generic and "one size fits all" as possible. And then you have the parties who just implement whatever they can get their hands on, and hope nobody asks difficult questions.

The beauty scoring model was found on Github ( this or this one). The models to predict age, gender and facial expression/emotion are part of FaceApiJS, which forms the backbone of this project. Do note that its developer doesn't fully divulge on which photos the models were trained. Also, FaceApiJS is bad at detecting " Asian guys".

I actually trained the BMI prediction algorithm myself because I couldn't find any existing models that were small enough to use online. I downloaded all the BMI prediction projects I could find on Github, and was astonished to find some of them came with vast troves of photographs. I felt firty using them, but also felt that revealing what was going on was more important. I've documented some of the dodgy things I discovered along the way in this blogpost.

Videos, screenshots and other visual material

The videos were mainly constructed out of public domain source material from pexels.com and Pixabay.com. To the photographers who so kindly shared their work: thank you all for your wonderful generosity!

Other direct sources were used under the artistic, journalistic and educational copyright exception.

Specific sources

Attractiveness

TikTok (front page, recorded with a screen recorder). Their practise of showing content from beautiful people is explained here. While I couldn't confirm if TikTok does this algorithmically, Tinder actually has been on the record about this practice.

This academic research was the source of the beauty judgement interface. Another source was the SCUT-FCB dataset.

Age

Innovatrix offers surveillance systems that analyse the demographics of store visitors. The picture was downloaded form their website.

Tinder (front page, screenshot).

Gender

Check out This article if you want to understand why an algorithm that tries to sort people into just two categories can upset some people.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

The BMI prediction project that was created by researchers who work at Google can be found here (not anymore, they deleted it!). Although all signs point to this project being a part of Google's practise, I sent an email to the makers to verify this, and got a quick response that it was a personal project. I then changed the video to say "researchers who work at Google" intead of "Google's health lab in India".

For more juicy details I refer you to the in-depth blogpost mentioned earlier.

Life expectancy

There are a lof of projects on Github that explore this idea, some of them as part of (Kaggle) contests set-up by the insurance industry. After exploring how these worked, I created my own wishy-washy implementation. There is no machine learning involved here, it's just a lookup in a table of life expectancies per country, the average BMI in that country, and then a calculation on how BMI might affect that. There is very little merit in this calculation, but then again that doesn't seem to be a requirement for calling yourself a data scientist.

Closer / Face print

Deepcamai.com is no longer online, perhaps it was removed after the scandal around Rite Aid. It can still be found using the Internet Archive's wayback machine. The Chinese parent company Deepcam has a Chinese website. There is also an Australian website. Wait, it turns out the USA company has rebranded itself to PDActive. The website is virtually identical to the old deepcamai.com website.

The visual effect that shows how the video feed is first turned into a mathematical representation based on contrast is built using HOG descriptor. The code was modified to work in the browser.

Emotions

Surfing behaviour

Visual Website Optimizer - Video source

HotJar. Learn more about the screen recording feature here.

Mouse movement was recorded using a small script called Wix client recorder (MIT license). As always, this runs in your own browser - the recording never leaves your computer, and will be gone as soon as you close the browser window.

Tip: you can protect yourself from these practices by installing browser addons such as uBlock Origin and uMatrix. Also check out Privacy Badger, HTTPS Everywhere, and Decentraleyes.

Conclusion

Jon Penney researched how Wikipedia was used after the Snowden revelations, and noticed that pages about sensitive topics such as terrorism were visited less. Later research strengthened the notion that this was caused by self-censorship.

You may also enjoy the follow-up game I made: AreYouYou.eu.

EU funded

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No 786641.

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In this test face detection algorithms will determine how normal you are. 100% privacy friendly.

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Instructions on how to use, free non monetizing tools, Linux, platforms for DE googling, duck go go, privacy sensitive noncommercial stuff. Use netboard instead of padlet.

Learn about European tools that follow guidelines, youth sector develop to the development of safe internet

Translate academic research on bias and misinformation into plain language briefings

Policy briefings in plain language briefings

Provide regional case studies to make it concrete.

List of software and it solutions

Knowledge from empirical research into educaiton

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Connect youth workers with researchers, journalists, fact-checkers, and teachers.

Calls to action to participate in consultations of institutions, work groups

Networking with wider community, researches, parent association, private industry, digital civil society

Build cross-border communities of practice to share scenarios and lesson plans.

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Build programs around real youth dilemmas: TikTok health claims, AI images, peer pressure.

Use games, pop-ups, and gamified learning to reach young people where they already are.

Thinkg about the social gap and our selection bias

educational materials adapted for different groups of youth

Focusing on rural youth, employed youth, and young parents, not all are in school

Instructions on how to use, free non monetizing tools, Linux, platforms for DE googling, duck duck go, privacy sensitive noncommercial stuff. Use netboard instead of padlet.

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Fund long term programs since these programmes reduce real-world negative outcomes, focus on transferability of critical thinking

Secure dedicated long term funding for non-formal critical thinking and media literacy work but support with smaller short term reminders

Different funding approach to different target groups, also realize that adults are causing problems for young people

Specific funding stream for rural interventions coz they are much more difficult

Also “adult” youths

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Handbooks by CoE (Including Revised CoE guidebook for youth)

Online platform for youth workers (Tinder+LinkedIn)

A game by fact-checking for better understanding the complexities of different contexts of different countries

International competition on using digital tools

Trainings on the use IA (for formal and non-formal educators)

Digital free spaces

Human rights chatbot

AI extension that limits responses so you get support, but not answers.

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• Resources and materials on AI literacy: examples of concrete activities, workshops that are developed based on the methodology of non-formal education and human rights education and adapted to AI reality between young people (misinformation and deepfakes, fact checking, bias, risks, prompting, creativity with AI, concrete examples of risks and opportunities).

- More resources verified by the Council of Europe are considered safe and ethical ones (as we trust that they are already checked through human rights and values lenses)/ other sources/providers, making it more visible that the resources they are providing are HR value-based

- Accessible resources (e.g. translated, easy to adapt and to implement for young people facing accessibility challenges, allowing young people with no previous knowledge to get involved)

• Instructions on how to use, free non-monetising tools (e.g. Linux, platforms for DE googling, DuckDuckGo, privacy-sensitive noncommercial stuff, Netboard instead of Padlet)

• Learn about European tools that follow guidelines, and the youth sector contributes to the development of a safe internet

• Translate academic research on bias and misinformation into plain language briefings / Policy briefings in plain language briefings

• Provide regional case studies to make it concrete

• List of software and IT solutions

• Knowledge from empirical research from different fields in education