--- title: "Protecting Kids in the Age of AI" date: "2025-11-20" duration: "10 min 20 sec" format: "Podcast (video)" host: "Success Partner with Virginie Coulloudon" source: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxufLd16ItU" canonical_url: "https://zoltner.com/speaking/transcripts/success-partner-protecting-kids-in-the-age-of-ai.html" speakers: - "Virginie Coulloudon, Host, Success Partner" - "John Zoltner, Guest" topics: - "AIChildSafety.org" - "Nonprofit startup" - "Fellowship" - "Influence and trust" --- # Protecting Kids in the Age of AI *Success Partner with Virginie Coulloudon* > **How this transcript was made.** This transcript was produced automatically in October 2026. Speech-to-text software converted the recording’s audio to text, and an AI language model then added punctuation, divided the text into turns, and proposed who was speaking from the event description and the conversation itself. It has not been checked line by line against the recording, so it may contain mistakes: misheard words, wrong names or numbers, and lines credited to the wrong speaker. The summary and key points were drafted with AI assistance from the transcript. Square brackets mark an editor’s addition or an omission. The recording is the authoritative version. ## Summary Virginie Coulloudon, host of Success Partner, asks about the mission behind AIChildSafety.org, how the organization is funded, how to build influence in a loud world, and what success looks like. I describe my path from early work on the digital divide and helping nonprofits use technology, to mobile projects for smallholder farmers in South America, to child safety and AI. I explain why I started the Safe Digital Childhood Initiative at Save the Children: we couldn’t repeat with AI what we did with social media, which was to wait for the problem to develop. ## Key points - I started AIChildSafety.org as a consulting group after USAID was closed down and the development community fell apart. It soon needed to be its own nonprofit. - At the time of this recording, in November 2025, we were bootstrapping with no funding. We had just opened applications for a fellowship for people studying how AI affects children’s development, with a focus on the global South. - On influence: I built credibility by associating with credible organizations, reaching out to people and learning what they do, convening events with thought leaders, and helping anyone who writes to me on LinkedIn when I can. - Success means people know who we are and what our mission is, formal alliances with organizations, governments and companies that can use our work, and reliable research that helps practitioners and regulators. - What brought me here is a simple observation. As AI develops, content for children will be generated as they watch, so shows never end, and a child never gets a natural signal to stop. ## Transcript The wording is as spoken, with punctuation and obvious errors corrected. See “How this transcript was made” above. **[00:00:00] Virginie Coulloudon:** And it’s my pleasure to welcome John Zoltner. You, I believe, are quite an influence champion, but we never have enough influence, correct? Particularly when we are mission-driven, and I love your mission, John, I have to say AIChildSafety.org. It says it all in your URL. Can you tell us a little bit more about your campaign, please? **[00:00:49] John Zoltner:** Great, thanks. People like the name because they understand, like you say, right away, what we do. What we do for my whole career, I’ve worked in the intersection of technology and social impact. So, you know, starting with early work on the digital divide, then helping nonprofits use technology to meet their missions, whatever they were. And then working more as we started to be able to use mobile technology in development. I was in South America helping smallholder farmers and public health systems use mobile tech with, for instance, text messages for local prices for farmers to decide where to sell. So I’ve always worked in emerging technology and social impact when AI came around and people started to have easy access to AI. It’s something that I had been tracking for a while. I had been using AI tools in my work and I was working for Save the Children at the time I had started something which we call the Safe Digital Childhood Initiative. And I suddenly realized that we were going to run into a real problem because we can’t repeat what we did with social media with AI, which is basically not understand that there would be a problem and sit there and wait for it to develop. **[00:02:20] Virginie Coulloudon:** And that was before we were told of at least one suicide, yes? **[00:02:25] John Zoltner:** Right. We just formed AIChildSafety.org. I started off when USAID was closed down and the development community sort of fell apart. I went independent then and I started teaming up with people who I had worked with in the past. It started as a consulting group and I realized pretty soon that it needed to be its own. Nonprofit and our goal is to work with systems, including technology regulators, technology companies themselves and NGOs or governments to help them figure out ways to make technology safer for children, either by educating children, their parents, people who work with them or working with the tech companies to make their platform safer. **[00:03:16] Virginie Coulloudon:** It’s very courageous from you, I can hear the mission and the passion, but nevertheless, all institutional funding is actually going through crisis and most nonprofits these days suffer tremendously from a lack of funding. So in addition to wishing you luck, tell me how you’re planning to develop your nonprofit. **[00:03:41] John Zoltner:** Sure. We’re doing everything with no funding, basically. So I’m, I said it started as a consulting company. I’m basically bootstrapping nonprofit and, you know, raising money is a big issue for us right now, but we’re getting a lot of positive signals. We know that a lot of funders are announcing that they’re going to add AI safety, not necessarily for children, but including children as one of their funding areas. But we just launched about two weeks ago, an application process for a fellowship program where we’re recruiting fellows who are either studying or interested in studying the intersection of child development and AI. So ways in which AI affects children’s development and that’s been fascinating. And again, we’re doing it with no funding at all. We just decided to launch and because we knew there was a need and we’re getting applicants from all over the world. It’s really exciting to see what they’re interested in. We specifically focused on the global South. So I know 11% are from Africa. They’re all interested in different subject areas like cognitive offloading, how AI affects children’s cognition or the use of AI companions. So something I’m very excited about. **[00:05:16] Virginie Coulloudon:** It is exciting indeed. And I want to take you to the topic of influence. You’re already influential. People have eyes on you. So how do you think one can be influential in a world that is so loud, to be honest, and sometimes also a bit fake? **[00:05:39] John Zoltner:** One way is by associating with organizations and other entities that are doing good work, known work in the area. In this case, universities, it’s establishing credibility by association. And that’s really how I built my career and protection from digital harm in general. I started off just by contacting a lot of people, telling them about my interests, learning at first about what they’re doing. And I started putting together events and recruited people from all over who were influencers and or thought leaders in their subject areas. And people want those opportunities to present. And that allowed me to know that really the full spectrum of people and organizations working on that topic. So that was a great way. Just reaching out and getting to know, and then being involved in more formal kind of event management. You know, opportunities, sharing knowledge, whatever. **[00:06:51] Virginie Coulloudon:** Right, right. **[00:06:51] John Zoltner:** And I really believe in being open and that’s also, it’s been a kind of fundamental tenet of my career. I think, you know, I help anyone who writes to me by LinkedIn, if I’m able. **[00:07:07] Virginie Coulloudon:** That’s how we get actually, LinkedIn. **[00:07:09] John Zoltner:** Yeah. **[00:07:10] Virginie Coulloudon:** Right, right. **[00:07:10] John Zoltner:** Yeah. LinkedIn is a big tool for me, important tool. And I found that if you help other people, they help you. So when I was starting AIChildSafety.org. And now a lot of people are willing to help. I have several people who are working as unpaid volunteers who would, I’m hoping to be able to employ in the future, but that’s based on relationships. We’ve built over time and having really a two way relationship. So they know I’ll help them in any way I can. **[00:07:51] Virginie Coulloudon:** In the context of launching a campaign and a new mission. What does success look like, John? **[00:07:58] John Zoltner:** I would say getting the word out, like making sure people know who we are and know what we’re doing, know what our mission is. Creating more formal alliances with organizations or governments or tech companies that are able to use our work. And in particular, the reason I launched this fellowship program first is because there’s not a lot of great research. So my goal is to be generating research that’s reliable, that is helpful for practitioners or for technology regulators. You know, to create position papers and explanatory papers or brief documents that can be easily consumed. And then have an effect in the real world. **[00:08:51] Virginie Coulloudon:** Right. Oh, well, I’m sure it will happen. What can we and what should we wish you, John, for 2026? **[00:08:58] John Zoltner:** Please wish me success. Wish me some funding. But really, I do this because I’m very interested and curious and I have kids of my own and I’m concerned. You know, I started down this pathway because I was sitting there one day thinking about kids watching any kind of content online. And I realized the way AI is developing, you’ll be able to generate that content as you go along. So a lot of people with parents have had the experience of saying, you know, it’s time when you finish this show, then you’re turning it off and coming to the dinner table. And the problem is the shows will never end because they’ll be generating based on what you’ve shown in your algorithm that you’re based on. And if something never ends, when does a kid know that it’s time to stop watching? **[00:09:58] Virginie Coulloudon:** Yeah, it’s about boundaries and consciousness. Right. Thank you so much, John. I wish you all that. Definitely. **[00:10:05] John Zoltner:** Great. Thanks a lot for the opportunity, Virginie, and I hope to keep in touch. **[00:10:10] Virginie Coulloudon:** Thank you so much. **[00:10:11] Unidentified speaker:** Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Goodbye. Bye.