This joint PhD programme (Oldenburg/Groningen) aims to provide an in-depth understanding of how young people from diverse sociocultural backgrounds perceive and use AI technologies in their everyday lives. Particular emphasis is placed on how they learn using these technologies in both formal and informal contexts.

We draw on a child-centred media studies approach and critical AI education research to conduct comparative qualitative research using semi-structured interviews, walkthroughs and AI diaries, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of what AI means to a diverse group of historically marginalised young people in the northern regions of Germany and the Netherlands. The research promises to make a key contribution to academic debates on AI within media studies and educational research by providing novel, bottom-up insights into AI from the perspective of an understudied group. The research also promises to have a clear societal impact by developing engaging materials and teacher training programmes to foster teachers’ understanding of the potential benefits and pitfalls of using AI in both school systems.

The overarching research question is: How do children and teenagers from diverse sociocultural backgrounds imagine, adopt and use AI technologies in their everyday lives?

The successful candidate will refine sub-questions in line with their research interests. Based on previous research, key aspects could include: learning practices involving AI in formal and informal contexts; joy, freedom and injustice associated with AI; patterns of AI use across intersectional dimensions; and similarities and differences between Germany and the Netherlands.

Project leads: Felicitas Macgilchrist (UOL) and Çiğdem Bozdağ (RUG)

Duration: 2026–2030

Funding: Pro*Ex