Designing Wonder: AI, Algorithms and the Future of Children’s Content

Some of the most-watched videos on the planet are made for children, and a fast-growing share now come from a machine, not a maker. One AI YouTube channel has posted more videos in seven months than Sesame Street has in twenty years. They call it AI slop: content generated in seconds, built to capture a child's attention, not to grow their imagination. The usual responses are to panic or shrug. Victoria Sharp, a designer and animator who has spent twenty years making things for children, does neither. She makes the case for a third way: thoughtful, human-led work made with the considered help of AI, a tool in service of the craft, not a substitute for it. A hopeful talk with Victoria, from the maker's chair about the future we're building for our youngest, and the part we still get to play in it.