It was all going well. Charlotte, five, was chatting with an AI soft toy called Gabbo at a London play centre about her family, her drawing of a heart to represent them and what makes her happy. She even offered a couple of kisses to the £80 toy with a face like a computer screen. It was when she declared: “Gabbo, I love you”, that the fluent conversation came to an abrupt halt. “As a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided,” said Gabbo, awkwardly crashing into its guardrails. “Let me know how you would like to proceed.”
All the warmth and compassion of a speak your weight machine, or indeed, our current Prime Minister. So, mums and dads, how about instead of letting Alexa-in-a-teddy raise your child, how about doing it the old fashioned way?
The moment came during a University of Cambridge study into the growing number of AI-powered toys hitting shop shelves for early years children.
It's not all parents plonking their kiddy in front of a machine - some outsource it to a third party to do it instead:
The developmental psychologists behind the study are calling for AI toys that “talk” with young children to be more tightly regulated “to ensure psychological safety by limiting toys’ ability to affirm friendship and other sensitive relational areas with young children”.“Because these toys can misread emotions or respond inappropriately, children may be left without comfort from the toy, and without emotional support from an adult, either,” said Dr Emily Goodacre, a developmental psychologist in the University of Cambridge’s faculty of education.
Whether you#re farming your kiddies out to 'early learning resources' or AI - enabled toys, I feel I must ask, as someone who has never wanted children, why did you even have them in the first place?
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