ENIGMA is a project of the Media Research and Innovation Centre under Centre for Journalism, in collaboration with the DDC
Project Description:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become an integral part of everyday life – at home, in school, in the news, and on our indispensable phones. It is impressive and helpful in countless ways, yet it raises important ethical and societal questions: Where should humans set the boundaries for technology? What should AI not help us with? This project investigates how children understand, experience, and reflect on these questions through Enigma’s national educational program ‘AI og dig’. As part of the program, students in grades 7–9 are invited to act as the “Council for the Future of Humans and Machines,” advising Denmark’s Minister for Digitalization on a series of real-world dilemmas. Through visits to Enigma’s museum exhibitions and related learning activities, students are equipped to think critically about both the possibilities and limitations of AI.
The research component of the project examines how students engage with these issues cognitively and emotionally, and how they express their understanding of AI in their own words. It is conducted by researchers from the Media Research and Innovation Centre (MFI) (Lene Heiselberg), Centre for Journalism (Morten Skovsgaard), DDC (Hannah Decker), and Department for design, media and educational science (Jens Jørgen Nielsen), SDU in close collaboration with Enigma.
To capture students’ reflections, the project includes the development, pilot testing, and implementation of a mixed-method data collection design consisting of a survey and a qualitative reflection task, where participants record a short audio response on their phone.
Data collection will be integrated into Enigma’s teaching sessions held in libraries across Denmark in 2026 and 2027.
Contact: Lene Heiselberg, lhei@journalism.sdu.dk
Project Description:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become an integral part of everyday life – at home, in school, in the news, and on our indispensable phones. It is impressive and helpful in countless ways, yet it raises important ethical and societal questions: Where should humans set the boundaries for technology? What should AI not help us with? This project investigates how children understand, experience, and reflect on these questions through Enigma’s national educational program ‘AI og dig’. As part of the program, students in grades 7–9 are invited to act as the “Council for the Future of Humans and Machines,” advising Denmark’s Minister for Digitalization on a series of real-world dilemmas. Through visits to Enigma’s museum exhibitions and related learning activities, students are equipped to think critically about both the possibilities and limitations of AI.
The research component of the project examines how students engage with these issues cognitively and emotionally, and how they express their understanding of AI in their own words. It is conducted by researchers from the Media Research and Innovation Centre (MFI) (Lene Heiselberg), Centre for Journalism (Morten Skovsgaard), DDC (Hannah Decker), and Department for design, media and educational science (Jens Jørgen Nielsen), SDU in close collaboration with Enigma.
To capture students’ reflections, the project includes the development, pilot testing, and implementation of a mixed-method data collection design consisting of a survey and a qualitative reflection task, where participants record a short audio response on their phone.
Data collection will be integrated into Enigma’s teaching sessions held in libraries across Denmark in 2026 and 2027.
Contact: Lene Heiselberg, lhei@journalism.sdu.dk