Responsible AI for Child Protection and the People Who Power It

Thu, September 24 | 3:15 PM EDT– 4:15 PM EDT
Topic: Programming, Direct Service | Knowledge Level: Advanced

Sherrie Bosisto, BA

The explosion of AI-generated child sexual abuse material has created an urgent and often invisible crisis for the investigators, analysts, and social service professionals who spend their careers trying to safeguard children. When technology is deployed without a shared ethical framework, the human cost falls hardest on practitioners: content analysts logging 19-hour days reviewing abuse imagery, investigators overwhelmed by unactionable reports, and organizations forced to make high-stakes decisions in isolation. Global Emancipation Network (GEN), a technology nonprofit with a decade of operational experience serving law enforcement globally, argues that technology decisions in anti-exploitation are fundamentally human decisions. How an organization chooses to use AI and under what ethical constraints determines the wellbeing of every person who touches that work. This session introduces GEN's three-axis framework for responsible AI deployment in child protection contexts. The framework helps practitioners and organizations across sectors (law enforcement, NGOs, healthcare, direct service, and platforms) evaluate what they are capable of doing, what they are choosing to do, and whether their ethical safeguards match that choice. It offers a shared language where previously none existed, enabling cross-sector accountability rather than siloed and ad hoc decision-making. GEN created this framework with the central design principle to focus on analyst and investigator wellbeing. Technology that reduces practitioner exposure to traumatic material by even a fraction is imperative. This session equips attendees with a practical decision-making structure and a call to collective accountability.

Trigger Warning: This presentation contains information (written, spoken, or visual) that may be triggering or (re)traumatizing to attendees.


Presentation Objectives
  • Introduce GEN's three-axis framework for evaluating responsible AI deployment in child protection contexts, including the dimensions of organizational capacity, approach selection, and ethical safeguards
  • Examine the relationship between technology decisions and practitioner mental health, illustrating how AI design choices directly affect investigator and analyst exposure to traumatic material
  • Discuss the cross-sector collaboration challenges that arise when law enforcement, NGOs, healthcare providers, and technology platforms operate without shared standards or language
  • Provide attendees with a practical decision-making tool applicable to their own organizational context, regardless of technical expertise or resource level
About the Presenter
Sherrie Bosisto, BA

Sherrie Bosisto is founder and executive director of Global Emancipation Network (GEN), a technology nonprofit building intelligence infrastructure to end human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. With 20+ years bridging law enforcement, technology platforms, and policy, she is one of the only practitioners who speaks fluently in both worlds and is trusted by both.