This Double Doctorate (Oldenburg/Groningen) aims to provide an in-depth understanding of how young people with diverse sociocultural backgrounds perceive and use AI technologies in their everyday lives. A particular focus lies on how they learn with these technologies in formal and informal contexts. 

We draw on a child-centric media studies approach and critical AI education research to conduct comparative qualitative research through semi-structured interviews, walkthroughs and AI diaries 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 about AI in media studies and in educational research by providing novel and bottom-up insights about AI from the perspective of an understudied group. The research also promises a clear societal impact by developing engaging materials and teacher trainings to foster teachers’ understanding of the potentials and pitfalls of using AI in both school systems. 

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

The successful candidate will hone sub-questions according to their passions for research. Based on previous research, key aspects could include: learning practices through AI in formal and informal contexts; joy, freedom and injustice through AI; patterns of AI use across intersectional dimensions; similarities and differences across Germany and the Netherlands. 

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

Duration: 2026 – 2030

Funding: Pro*Ex