AI in early childhood education: right uses, people at the centre

Short answer: how should preschools use AI?

In preschools, AI should be a tool for adults: reducing paperwork, translating and drafting notices for parents and supporting activity planning, so teachers have more time with children. AI should not replace teachers in assessing, classifying or labelling children, and should not be used for emotion recognition or behaviour monitoring of children. Every AI output needs a teacher's review before use.

Disclosure: EYC builds Early Years Circle, an operating platform for early childhood education. This article is product-neutral and applies to any tool.

Where AI helps adults

General principle: AI handles administrative and drafting work; teachers keep decisions and relationships with children and parents. The examples below are illustrative.

• Administrative paperwork: compiling records, filling forms from existing data, reminders.
• Translation for parents: translating notices into the parent's language; the teacher reviews before sending.
• Drafting reports and notices: from a teacher's short notes, AI writes a clear draft; the teacher edits and owns the content.
• Planning support: suggesting activity ideas, material lists and theme adaptations; teachers choose and adjust for the actual children.

Where AI must not replace people

Young children develop quickly and very differently; a wrong judgement can follow a child for a long time. Some work should only be done by qualified adults who know the child.

• Assessing, ranking or labelling children (for example “delayed” or “hyperactive”) from automated output.
• Recognising emotions or tracking children's faces, gaze or attention.
• Independent conversations between children and generative AI chatbots.
• Decisions on a child's safety, health or referral to specialist support.

International guidance: UNESCO and UNICEF

In 2023 UNESCO published the first global guidance on generative AI in education and research. It proposes a human-agency, age-appropriate approach, calls for data privacy protection and proposes an age limit of 13 for the use of AI tools in the classroom, together with teacher training. For preschool children, this means they should not use generative AI tools on their own.

UNICEF's “Guidance on AI and children” version 3.0 (December 2025) draws on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and sets 10 requirements for child-centred AI, including: ensure safety for children; protect children's data and privacy; ensure non-discrimination and fairness; provide transparency, explainability and accountability; and support children's best interests, development and well-being.

Vietnam's 2026 legal framework

Teacher-in-the-loop design

Teacher-in-the-loop means AI only suggests and the teacher decides; anything sent to parents or added to a child's record is reviewed and owned by a person. See human-in-the-loop for the model in detail.

• AI produces drafts and never sends on its own.
• Label which content was AI-assisted.
• Never put children's photos, full names or health information into public AI tools.
• Keep a log of who approved what and when.

Common risks of generative AI in schools

Even when used only by adults, generative AI carries risks that school leaders should explain to teachers. These are not reasons to ban it, but reasons to have usage rules and a review step.

• Wrong or invented content: AI can get health, nutrition or regulatory details wrong; teachers must check against official sources.
• Unsuitable tone: notices to parents need to be warm, clear and match the school's culture; AI drafts are often generic.
• Bias: suggested activities or comments may carry gender, regional or ability stereotypes; they need a pedagogical second read.
• Data leakage: pasting notes containing children's names, health conditions or family circumstances into public tools can expose sensitive data.
• Over-reliance: if AI writes every comment, teachers gradually lose the habit of observing and recording children directly.

Getting started: four steps for school leaders

No big project is needed. A school can start with one small, controlled task and expand once rules and experience are in place.

• Step 1, pick one adult task: for example drafting the weekly notice or translating notices for parents who speak another language.
• Step 2, write short rules: which data must never go into the tool, who approves and how AI-assisted content is labelled.
• Step 3, train teachers: one hands-on session using the school's real examples, stressing review and editing of drafts.
• Step 4, review regularly: ask teachers and parents about quality, time saved and issues, then decide whether to expand.

Checklist for preschools and how EYC approaches this

EYC builds Early Years Circle with four experiences for teachers, families, administrators and classroom TV. We believe AI in preschools should serve adults and keep people at the centre. If your school needs help assessing tools or workflows, see software and SaaS or contact EYC.