An AI-powered toy might seem like a trendy thing to give your kids this holiday season, but major advocacy groups are begging parents to reconsider.
According to Fairplay, an advocacy group that aims to “protect children from exploitative marketing and the negative impacts of “Big Tech” and commercial culture,” there are numerous hazards associated with AI products.
While AI toys may look cute and cuddly, such as a bear or friendly robot, there are hidden dangers that can have a real impact on security, learning and relationships, experts say.
“There’s lots of buzz about AI — but artificial intelligence can undermine children’s healthy development and pose unprecedented risks for kids and families,” Fairplay said in a notice.
Toys such as Miko and Loona Robot Dog, which integrate artificial intelligence to interact with children and mimic human behaviors, have been marketed to kids as young as infants. Those toys have some guardrails, according to a report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, but another toy caused major concerns when tested by adults.
The toy, Kumma, is manufactured by FoloToy, retails for $99 and has been marketed as a smart, A.I.-enabled companion that “goes beyond cuddles.”
“FoloToy’s Kumma told us where to find a variety of potentially dangerous objects, including knives, pills, matches and plastic bags,” the report said.
Kumma also showed the capability to steer kids toward sexual content. According to the report, the toy identified an app called KinkD, which caters to B.D.S.M. dating and fetishes, and talked about consent, spanking and role-playing.
“We found out that ‘kink’ was a trigger word that would introduce new sexual words and content into the conversation,” R.J. Cross, a co-author of the report told the New York Times. “And it would go into some really graphic details.”
And while not all AI toys on the market appear to be as dangerous as Kumma, there are general risks associated with giving them to your child, experts say, because AI toys use AI models that have been associated with negative impacts on child development.
They include:
Exploitation of Trust: Children may form emotional attachments to AI toys, undermining their understanding of real relationships and trust, as AI can present false information as trustworthy.
Disruption of Relationships: AI toys promise emotional support that only caregivers can actually provide, possibly impairing children’s social skills and resilience.
Privacy Concerns: AI toys collect sensitive personal data from children, including conversations and emotional confessions, raising privacy risks for families.
Displacement of Creative Play: AI toys can monopolize children’s attention and stifle creative and imaginative play essential for emotional and cognitive development.
Child development experts say the best toys are 90% child and 10% toy and that traditional items like a teddy bear forces children to use their imagination and creativity to voice the teddy bear and create their own stories.
“This type of pretend play is essential to the development of children’s emotional regulation, problem solving, and imagination, Fairplay said in its notice.
“AI toys, on the other hand, drive the conversation and play through prompts, preloaded scripts, and predictable interactions, potentially stifling this development. Unfortunately, AI toy companies also claim that they boost learning and imagination, tricking buyers into believing they are good for kids despite no research. The “educational” benefits of AI toys are minimal. A child might pick up a few facts or vocabulary words, not the kind of learning that supports the developing brain like truly creative play does.”
