evren@makokids.io

A successful first Global Dialogue on AI Governance should deliver outcomes that move beyond general principles toward practical alignment. It should provide a clear synthesis of perspectives, identifying both areas of convergence and key points of divergence across stakeholders, as transparency around disagreement is essential to guide future work. The Dialogue should also generate practical guidance grounded in real-world contexts, such as what safe, trustworthy, and inclusive AI looks like in sectors like education or consumer-facing technologies, helping to bridge the gap between high-level frameworks and implementation. In addition, it should strengthen coherence by mapping existing governance approaches and identifying opportunities to build on current efforts rather than duplicating them. Inclusiveness should be reflected not only in participation, but also in how different user groups are considered. Children, for example, remain underrepresented despite being significantly impacted by AI systems. Finally, continuity beyond July is critical, and the Dialogue should serve as the foundation of an ongoing process that enables learning, iteration, and collaboration. A successful outcome would therefore be a Dialogue that is practical, coherent, and able to inform real-world governance decisions.

• Safe, secure and trustworthy AI
• Social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic and technical implications of AI
• Protection and promotion of human rights
• Transparency, accountability, and human oversight

The selected areas reflect the need for AI governance to be both principled and practically relevant across real-world contexts. Safe, secure, and trustworthy AI is essential, particularly as AI systems become embedded in everyday interactions, including those involving children. In this context, safety should extend beyond content moderation to include how AI behaves in interaction and influences trust, learning, and decision-making. The social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic, and technical implications of AI are equally critical, as these systems shape not only access to information but also how individuals understand and engage with the world. Protection and promotion of human rights remains a fundamental priority, especially for groups that are more vulnerable or underrepresented in current governance discussions, including children. Transparency, accountability, and human oversight are key to building trust and ensuring that AI systems remain aligned with societal values. Together, these areas support a more holistic approach to AI governance that connects technical development with human experience, and that enables systems to be not only safe and effective, but also inclusive and developmentally appropriate.

One cross-cutting issue that could be further emphasized is the need to consider AI not only as a technical system, but as an interactive environment that shapes human behavior, learning, and perception. Current discussions often focus on outputs, risks, and compliance, but less attention is given to how AI systems behave in interaction and how they influence users over time. This is particularly important for children, who engage with AI differently from adults and are still in critical stages of cognitive and social development. As AI becomes more conversational, adaptive, and embedded in everyday contexts, its role in shaping trust, decision-making, and understanding of the world becomes more significant. Addressing this requires integrating psychological and developmental perspectives into AI governance as a cross-cutting consideration across all thematic areas. In addition, greater attention could be given to ensuring that governance frameworks are informed by diverse cultural contexts, so that AI systems remain relevant and appropriate across different societies. Together, these perspectives can strengthen the alignment between technical design, human experience, and long-term societal impact.

In Türkiye and across the region, at the intersection of children, media, education, and AI, governance gaps are most visible in how rapidly deployed AI systems outpace guidance on safe and developmentally appropriate use. Many AI tools are already being used by children in both formal and informal learning environments, yet existing governance frameworks are largely designed with adult users in mind. This creates gaps in areas such as age-appropriate design, interaction safety, and the long-term developmental impact of AI systems. Cultural context is also highly relevant, as AI systems often reflect dominant design perspectives that may not fully align with local values, languages, and ways of learning. There is also a growing concern that without careful consideration, local cultural codes and diversity may be gradually influenced or diluted by the global scale and standardization of large technology platforms. In addition, limited awareness and capacity among educators and caregivers make it difficult to translate high-level principles into everyday practice. At the same time, there are important opportunities. Increasing national and regional interest in AI, combined with global momentum around safe, trustworthy, and human rights-based approaches, provides a strong foundation to integrate child-centered and culturally relevant considerations into governance. There is also growing openness to collaboration across sectors, including education, media, and technology. Addressing these gaps will require moving from general guidelines toward more practical, context-aware, and sector-specific approaches that reflect how AI is actually used in children's daily lives.

The AI Dialogue can play a critical role as a convening platform that connects diverse stakeholders and reduces fragmentation across existing initiatives. One key contribution would be to bridge the gap between high-level governance frameworks and real-world implementation. By creating space for practical examples and sector-specific insights, the Dialogue can support more actionable cooperation. This is particularly important in areas such as education and child-facing technologies, where the implications of AI are immediate and evolving. The Dialogue can also strengthen inclusiveness by ensuring that perspectives from different regions, cultures, and user groups are reflected. This includes recognizing that governance approaches must remain adaptable to diverse cultural contexts and social realities.Finally, by positioning itself as an ongoing process rather than a one-time event, the Dialogue can support continuous learning, trust-building, and coordination among stakeholders. In this way, the AI Dialogue can serve as both a connector and a catalyst for more coherent and effective international cooperation.

The AI Dialogue should build on and connect with existing international initiatives and frameworks, including efforts led by the United Nations system, UNESCO, OECD, and global multi-stakeholder platforms such as the International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (IASEAI). These initiatives have already established important principles around trustworthy AI, human rights, and ethical development, and provide a strong foundation for further work. The added value of the AI Dialogue lies in its ability to connect these efforts, reduce fragmentation, and create a more coherent and inclusive space for exchange. Rather than duplicating existing work, it can help identify complementarities, surface practical insights, and facilitate alignment across different governance approaches. Importantly, the Dialogue can also bring in perspectives that are often less visible in global governance discussions, including those from the education and media sectors, as well as voices representing children and other underrepresented groups. This would help ensure that governance frameworks reflect real-world use and impact. By linking existing initiatives with practical, cross-sectoral insights and more inclusive participation, the AI Dialogue can contribute to a more connected, context-aware, and implementable global governance landscape.

Different stakeholders can contribute most effectively when participation moves beyond formal interventions toward more interactive and structured exchange. Governments, industry, academia, and civil society each bring distinct perspectives, and the Dialogue should create space for these to engage with one another rather than speak in isolation. From a format perspective, it would be valuable to ensure balanced speaking opportunities between governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, as well as more interactive formats such as moderated roundtables or focused thematic discussions. Pre-identified topics for each session could help deepen discussions and make contributions more targeted and practical. It would also be beneficial to include sector-specific inputs, for example from education, media, and child-focused organizations, to ensure that discussions reflect real-world use and impact. In this context, partnerships with existing associations and networks could enable small, structured focus groups with children and youth, allowing their perspectives to be gathered in a safe and appropriate way and fed into the Dialogue.

Several voices and perspectives remain underrepresented in global discussions on AI governance. These include stakeholders from the Global South, educators, content creators, and importantly, children and youth themselves. Children are often framed as a vulnerable group, but are rarely included as participants in shaping the systems that affect them. Their ways of learning, interpreting information, and building trust differ significantly from adults, yet these differences are not consistently reflected in governance discussions. Cultural perspectives are also underrepresented, particularly those outside dominant technology-producing contexts. This can result in governance approaches that do not fully align with local values, languages, and ways of learning, and may unintentionally contribute to the erosion of cultural diversity. To address this, inclusion should move beyond open participation toward more intentional mechanisms. Partnerships with educators, child-focused organizations, and regional networks can help bring in grounded perspectives. Structured approaches such as facilitated focus groups with children and youth, conducted through trusted institutions, can ensure their input is gathered in a safe and meaningful way. Including these voices will strengthen both the relevance and legitimacy of global AI governance efforts.

Innovative engagement formats can significantly enhance the quality and impact of the AI Dialogue by moving beyond static interventions toward more dynamic exchange. One effective approach would be small, focused roundtables organized around real-world use cases, such as AI in education or child-facing technologies. This would allow participants to engage with concrete scenarios rather than abstract principles. In addition, partnerships with technology platforms could be explored to support broader and more inclusive input gathering. For example, AI-enabled tools could be used to conduct short, structured interviews or guided interactions with diverse user groups, including children and youth, in a safe and moderated way. Aggregated insights from these interactions could then be synthesized and brought into the Dialogue. Cross-sector dialogues that bring together policymakers, technologists, educators, and practitioners can further strengthen understanding across domains. Finally, structured synthesis moments after each session can help capture key insights, areas of agreement, and open questions, making the Dialogue more outcome-oriented and actionable.

Several existing policies and approaches provide a strong foundation for effective AI governance. Frameworks such as the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, the OECD AI Principles, and emerging regulatory efforts like the EU AI Act have been instrumental in establishing shared principles around safety, human rights, transparency, and accountability. At the same time, practical approaches are increasingly important to translate these principles into real-world application. One example is the development of risk-based frameworks that classify AI systems based on their potential impact and guide appropriate safeguards. Another is the growing use of human-in-the-loop and human oversight mechanisms to ensure accountability in decision-making processes. In addition, there is a growing need for sector-specific approaches. In areas such as education and child-facing technologies, this includes designing AI systems that are age-appropriate, transparent in interaction, and supportive of learning and development rather than replacing it. For example, policy-focused associations working on AI governance at the national level contribute by creating awareness, facilitating dialogue, and connecting global frameworks with local implementation realities. Good practices also include participatory and multi-stakeholder approaches, where inputs from diverse groups, including educators, content creators, and end users, are incorporated into system design and governance processes. Finally, ensuring cultural and linguistic relevance is critical. Approaches that support localization, diverse datasets, and context-aware design can help ensure that AI systems remain aligned with different communities and avoid reinforcing a single dominant perspective.