Are AI-Powered Toys the Future?
By Movieguide® Contributor
A Hong Kong-based toy and electronics company is looking at the potential of AI use within their toys.
“You can incorporate not only the kid’s name but the kid’s daily activities,” Allan Wong, chief executive of Vtech Holdings told The Financial Times. “[It] knows you go to which school… who your friends are. It can actually be telling a story and talking almost like a good friend. The kids… can actually talk to the toy, and the toy can actually give [them] a response.”
VTech’s idea is to create an AI teddy bear that will take over the role of telling bedtime stories. Rather than read from a book, AI technology would allow the bear to tell a new story using info from the child’s life to make it customized and engaging. Working like a toy version of ChatGPT, these bears would be able to respond to questions and requests of the child.
While the technology for these toys is, in theory, already available, the cost to produce a model is still years away from being consumer priced.
“I think we will have to wait another five years when the price comes down to a certain level, then we can adapt a subset of those AI chips for toy use,” Wong said.
Along with the manufacturing costs, toy companies would have to handle safety concerns before the toy could responsibly enter the market.
“Every time information such as the child’s name and interests is input into any AI algorithm, the data is stored and analyzed and potentially even shared for a price too with third parties, which can create security and privacy issues in the future” security specialist, Jake Moore told the Daily Mail.
The customized nature of the bear could lead many children to view it as a good friend, leaving them no hesitations in sharing the most private of information. Even if VTech didn’t sell the personal information, it could be difficult to ensure the bears are unable to be hacked and mined for personal data.
While the idea for AI teddy bears and toys is novel, companies should weigh the risks and consider why they would replace parent storytelling in the first place before manufacturing these products.
Movieguide® previously reported on AI:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared before Congress earlier this week alongside other leaders in AI to advise lawmakers on the regulation of AI technologies.
Altman believes that the current tech boom has the potential to be a “printing press moment” forever changing human life. However, he recognizes the risks of the current approach to innovation in the tech industry and is encouraging lawmakers to regulate the boom.
“We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models,” Altman said in his opening remarks.
IBM’s vice president, Christina Montgomery, also appeared before Congress warning against Silicon Valley’s longstanding mantra of ‘move fast and break things.’
“The era of AI cannot be another era of ‘move fast and break things,” Montgomery said. “We don’t have to slam the brakes on innovation either.”
Altman suggested the government could regulate the industry by creating a licensing program for companies working on AI systems.
