A National Common Agenda for Early Childhood and Artificial Intelligence

As the Institute for Child Success celebrates its Sweet 16 anniversary, we are grateful for the many partners, stakeholders, and funders who have made our success in advancing better outcomes for children and families possible. Yet even as we celebrate our past accomplishments, we remain firmly focused on the future. The challenges facing young children are changing quickly, and the organizations that serve them must evolve as well. We believe one of the greatest responsibilities of leadership is not simply responding to change, but anticipating it.

That is why, over the next two years, ICS will pursue one of the more ambitious initiatives in our organization’s history.

By the end of 2027, ICS seeks to develop a National Common Agenda for Early Childhood and Artificial Intelligence (AI) — a collaborative framework designed to help policymakers, practitioners, researchers, funders, parents, and other leaders navigate one of the most significant societal shifts of our time.

For over a decade, ICS has worked with partners to lead the development of South Carolina’s Early Childhood Common Agenda, a bipartisan, collaborative roadmap developed with dozens of organizations and hundreds of advocates, that has shaped public policy and strengthened outcomes for young children. This proven model can serve as the foundation for a national conversation about artificial intelligence and its implications for children, families, and the organizations that serve them.

AI is advancing at a pace unlike any technological innovation in modern history. While its potential benefits are extraordinary, its long-term implications—particularly for young children and developing brains—remain largely unknown. Every sector of society is wrestling with the opportunities and risks AI presents, yet the early childhood field is only beginning to ask the questions that matter most (see ICS’s recent publication on AI and early childhood education here).

How will AI influence child development, learning, relationships, and health? How will it reshape the early childhood workforce? What ethical questions must we confront? How can organizations serving children responsibly adopt AI while protecting those they exist to serve? And what public policies are needed to ensure that innovation advances, rather than undermines, healthy childhood development? These questions cannot wait.

Across the country, remarkable organizations are producing important research, exploring ethical considerations, and developing new tools. Yet much of this work is occurring independently, without a unified framework for collaboration or action. At the same time, many early childhood organizations are understandably focused on meeting today’s immediate challenges—serving families, sustaining operations, and navigating an increasingly complex funding environment.

ICS believes this moment calls for shared leadership. Throughout 2026 and 2027, we will convene experts from early childhood, healthcare, education, technology, public policy, ethics, business, philanthropy, and other sectors to develop a shared understanding of artificial intelligence’s impact on young children and identify practical, actionable recommendations for the future.

We believe artificial intelligence represents more than another technological advancement. It has the potential to fundamentally reshape how we live, learn, work, and connect with one another. Like every transformative innovation throughout history, AI will create tremendous opportunities—but only if it is developed and deployed thoughtfully, responsibly, and with children at the center of the conversation.

Young children cannot advocate for themselves in this rapidly changing environment. They need leaders who will ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions, and ensure that innovation serves their best interests rather than simply accelerating because it can. That is the role ICS intends to play.

Over the next two years, ICS will:

• Convene national leaders through a series of small-format, in-person gatherings designed to foster meaningful collaboration and build consensus across disciplines.
• Conduct research and develop policy recommendations exploring AI’s impact on children, families, the early childhood workforce, and the broader early childhood ecosystem.
• Publish an ongoing series of essays and thought pieces from policymakers, researchers, technologists, educators, healthcare leaders, faith leaders, artists, parents, and others whose perspectives will help shape this emerging conversation.
• Lead the development of a National Common Agenda for Early Childhood and Artificial Intelligence.

This initiative will require broad collaboration. We seek partners who are willing to think boldly, engage thoughtfully, and help ensure that artificial intelligence becomes a force for improving—not diminishing—the lives of young children.

Whether you are a policymaker, practitioner, researcher, funder, technology leader, parent, or simply someone who believes the future of children deserves our collective attention, we invite you to join us.

The decisions made over the next few years will shape childhood for generations. Together, we have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to help ensure those decisions are made wisely.

Jamie Moon

ICS President and CEO