DatatAItaja – Tech Skilling Youth to Increase Their AI Literacy and Data Protection Skills

The DatatAItaja-project aims to enhance artificial intelligence (AI) literacy among young people and strengthen their understanding of data protection and cyber security. Additionally, the project increases awareness of the growing role of algorithms in everyday life. Through the project, those who work with young people receive support materials to help them explore these topics both independently and together with the youth. 

It is essential for young people to recognize the principles of artificial intelligence and algorithms, as well as to identify AI-generated content, including falsified images and text. Particularly in social media channels popular among the youth, it is crucial to know how to check and critically evaluate the sources of the viewed content. With the rising popularity and usage of generative AI platforms, users should keep in mind that data fed into these platforms is often not protected. 

By increasing the understanding of one’s own data protection rights and personal data protection, the DatatAItaja-project ensures that children and young people have the skills and knowledge necessary to protect their own information, as well as to understand the operations of social media applications. Data protection is a particularly important issue for young people, as they experiment with and adopt online services and social media apps, and consequently share their personal data through the registration process. Understanding data is also a prerequisite for understanding AI, as AI is trained with vast masses of data.  

We engage young people through videos, social media communication, influencer collaborations, and workshops. The workshops will be conducted in the fall of 2024 with youth-focused organizations in the municipalities of Uusimaa, such as the youth services of the municipality of Vihti and the youth work of the parishes of Vantaa. 

The secondary target group of DatatAItaja-project includes those parties that work with young people. They receive support from the materials that are produced in this project to help address the often complex themes of AI, data protection and personal data.

We emphasize equality and diversity in our cooperation with local actors, stakeholders, and when working with young people.