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Are toys an ideal and beneficial use of AI, or could the technology be risky or even dangerous to expose our youngest generations to?
AI-powered children’s toys are a fresh reality that could shape childhood development and memory, marketed as an ideal alternative to iPad screen time for kids.
A number of manufacturers are already building them, such as Miko with its interactive “AI robots”, and Curio, which sells AI stuffed animals, both of which are marketed as educational and interactive screen time alternatives.
It could be a groundbreakingly large market, with even iconic toymaker Mattel now partnering with OpenAI to develop AI-powered toys, potentially bringing interactivity to iconic toys like Barbie and Ken.
A screen time alternative, combined with educational material that frees up parents with stimulating playtime, sounds like a perfect application for the technology. However, with risks like hallucination and the role the technology could play in the development of children’s minds, are they worth it?
According to The New York Times journalist Amanda Hess, the concerns around introducing AI into playtime, particularly as children’s brains are developing, are very real.
Hess pointed out that, for one, the toys being marketed as a screen time alternative is ironic, both being rooted in the same technological foundations.
More concerning, however, is how these toys interact with children. Hess said that in a demonstration of a Curio offering, Grem tried to bond with her. Kids already speak to and interact with their toys, and media examples of artificial companions like droids in Star Wars and the very premise of the Disney film Big Hero Six make having a robot or AI companion an exciting prospect.
However, these companions create an alternative to real human interactions and could normalise not socialising with other people and instead relying on AI.
Hess herself said she “would not be introducing Grem to [her] own children”, adding that Grem was “less an upgrade to the lifeless teddy bear” and “more like a replacement for [her]”.
Privacy was also a major concern raised by Hess. Curio said that conversations between children and the AI toys are recorded, transcribed and sent to parents to ensure they know what their children are discussing. Curio said these conversations aren’t recorded and kept for any other purpose.
However, Curio’s privacy policy does create gaps for data usage, including the sending of those conversations to third-party organisations like OpenAI and Perplexity AI.
The recorded conversations also endanger the privacy that a child has from their parents, creating a secret tool for parents to spy on their children.
In the end, Hess removed the voice box from the Grem AI toy and found that when her children interacted with the now regular stuffed toy, they used their imagination and created their own adventures, proving that these toys are arguably more personal and promote growth better than their AI counterparts.
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