DIGITAL RISKS, ETHICAL DILEMMAS, AND SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTIONS: CHILD PROTECTION IN THE ERA OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract

The fast integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the digital space has changed the landscape of the contexts in which children learn, engage, and socialize, and has caused emerging types of vulnerability at the same time. Since there is algorithmic targeting and online grooming through automated cyberbullying and deepfake exploitation, AI-driven systems have increased digital perils in a manner that would question the conventional child protection systems. This article has discussed the digital threats of the era of AI and critically evaluated the ethical issues that have arisen due to it in the field of social work practice such as the problem of data privacy, predictive risk, algorithmic discrimination, and the contradiction between surveillance and the rights of children.

Based on the concepts of child rights, ecological system, and AI ethical frameworks, the paper proposes the reorganization of child protection policy to deal with the harm caused by technologies. It emphasizes the necessity of AI literacy in social workers, the creation of digital risk assessment instruments, and collaboration between welfare agencies, educators, and technology companies in other areas. The approach created in the study is a rights-based, human-centered approach to protection which balances innovation and accountability as well as social justice. This paper will play a role in the further debate on ethical governance, professional readiness, and policy change in AI-mediated societies by reframing child protection in digitally mediated societies.