New research from Public Interest Research Group and tests conducted by NBC News found that a wide range of AI toys have loose guardrails.
A wave of AI-powered children’s toys has hit shelves this holiday season, claiming to rely on sophisticated chatbots to animate interactive robots and stuffed animals that can converse with kids.
Children have been conversing with stuffies and figurines that seemingly chat with them for years, like Furbies and Build-A-Bears. But connecting the toys to advanced artificial intelligence opens up new and unexpected possible interactions between kids and technology.
In new research, experts warn that the AI technology powering these new toys is so novel and poorly tested that nobody knows how they may affect young children.
Save that comment and set a reminder to revisit it, when your kid is, idk, like three years old 😅
Let me tell you: every parent thinks they’re going to be this awesome parent, not like aaaaaall the other bad parents out there.
Turns out: that battle plan does not survive first contact with your child. Every parent feels like they let their former self down in their aspiration of being a good parent.
Needless to say: it’s not hard to skip shitty AI toys though.