Small Worlds. Big questions.
Stories about growing up with AI.
AI can show up in homework, friendships, games and the things children see online. The questions it raises are easier to feel through a character’s choices than through an abstract explanation.
CIF is developing stories set in the worlds children know. Conversations on The Ayush Prakash Podcast shape the situations and perspectives behind them. Each story will lead curious readers back to the people whose ideas helped inform it.
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Aaron Swartz was a programmer, writer and activist who fought to make knowledge freely accessible, and died by suicide while facing an aggressive federal prosecution over downloaded academic articles that his family condemned as intimidation and prosecutorial overreach.
Knowledge should be accessible to everyone.
Aaron Swartz’s belief that knowledge should be open shapes Small Worlds. The stories and the conversations behind them will be free to read and hear.
- No paywall
No purchase or subscription.
- No institutional gate
No university, employer, funder, partner, or professional affiliation.
- No required email
No registration. Email is only for optional updates.
- Inspectable sources
The ideas behind each story lead back to the original podcast conversations.
- Open to critique
Readers can question a story’s choices and follow the conversations behind them. CIF will correct factual mistakes and make meaningful changes visible.
Real words from real worlds
Guests on The Ayush Prakash Podcast bring grounded, sometimes competing views. Their conversations inform the stories; the characters and plots are CIF’s creative work.
Researchers
What AI can do, when its answers may be wrong, and how it shapes attention, trust and relationships.
Educators
What helps a child learn, practise and make sense of an answer.
Philosophers
Which choices matter and what should remain human.
Critics
Whose interests are served and which assumptions deserve a closer look.
Policy experts
Who sets the rules and what children and families should be able to ask for.
Founders
Why they start AI companies, what they choose to build and which tradeoffs shape those choices.
How Small Worlds works.
01Read the story.
Follow a child through an ordinary situation where AI changes what they see, make or decide.
02Hear the voices.
Explore the podcast conversations that helped shape the story and hear each guest in their own words.
03Make your own choice.
Pause with the characters and ask what you would do, what you still need to know and who else is affected.
04Follow the ideas.
Each story will point readers to its source conversations. The stories and those links will be free to access.
Follow Small Worlds as it grows.
Leave your email for updates when stories are ready. Signing up is optional and never affects access.