Author: Nimisha F., Dr. Bindu Ann Philip

Abstract: The everyday of children in the contemporary digital is filled with technologically saturated environments where screens, algorithms, and immersive media shape their experiences. This epistemological and ontological paradigm shift leaves them in a state where the basic sensory experiences of curiosity and wonder are displaced by digitally mediated forms. This results in the emergence of a new subjectivity with heightened dependence on simulated experiences, and the gradual erosion of spontaneous exploration. Theoretical insights from Jean Baudrillard and Rosi Braidotti provide critical tools to understand these transformations. Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality and Rosi Braidotti’s posthuman childhood give in depth analysis of how children are engaged in constant entanglement with technological systems affecting their emotional and cognitive environment. Both the theories offer a broader perspective of the posthuman condition wherein children’s lived realities are mediated by AI-driven infrastructures that restructure their emotional landscapes and social relations. Against this backdrop, the present study examines the documentary Children 2.0 to analyse how digital ecologies and AI-mediated platforms contribute to children’s seclusion, mental vulnerability, and diminishing real-world curiosity. By situating the documentary within posthuman and hyperreality frameworks, the study aims to critically map the emerging contours of childhood in the age of artificial intelligence.

Keywords: Childhood- Posthuman- Hyperreality-Altered Subjectivities-Social Exclusion

Article Info: Received: 08 Jan 2025; Received in revised form: 04 Feb 2026; Accepted: 12 Feb 2026; Available online: 15 Feb 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.111.47