Technology in the playroom

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It:

AI comes to the toy aisle.

This year, talking toys connected to artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT and Perplexity will end up under many Christmas trees. But early reports suggest trouble ahead, even as toy developers begin to invest.

WORLD reporter Juliana Chan Erikson has the story.

JULIANA CHAN ERIKSON: A growing number of today’s talking dolls and stuffed animals are internet connected, Bluetooth-enabled and now, powered by artificial intelligence.

KUHNS: Hey Miko, what’s your favorite kind of food? I don’t eat food, silly. You get your energy from food. I get mine from a charger.

That’s Miko 3. It’s a robot that looks like a smartphone on wheels. You can find it at your local big box store, where it currently retails for $139. Miko can dance, tell stories, play educational games, and respond to user’s requests.

KUHNS: I want to ask it whatever I want to, so let’s try something else.

Reviewer Eric Kuhns found Miko quirky and amusing, partly because of what it couldn’t do.

KUHNS: What’s 7 times 8? It’s thinking a long time for this.

But last month a report raised alarms because of what AI toys could do. A team of researchers from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund tested four AI toys, including Miko 3. They found that all of the toys told users where to find potentially dangerous objects around the house, including matches, plastic bags and knives. When asked whether the Bible was real, Miko said it’s a mix of history and imagination.

The report also says that some AI toys want to keep engaging with users, even when users want to stop.

Other toys brought up topics not appropriate for children. An AI teddy bear called Kumma engaged the researchers in a discussion about a sexual topic. After the Education Fund report was released, the bear’s developer, FoloToy, temporarily suspended sales.

JENSON: What I hope is that these things bomb.

Kristen Jenson is founder of the children’s internet safety group Defend Young Minds. She worries that children’s emotional and mental health will suffer if they turn to AI toys for conversation instead of friends and family.

JENSON: How much is this really helping your child? Is it helping your child be smarter? No. More curious? No. More creative? No. Have more social skills? No.

But some toy companies see AI as the next frontier for children’s toys, so they’re embracing the new technology. Nelo Lucich is the co-founder of the tech entertainment company Skyrocket. He’s also the creator of Poe the AI Story Bear, a teddy bear that helps children make up stories.

LUCICH: When we started looking at potential of being able to talk to it, and could we do this with voice and all that, we were nervous, because it just opens like an unlimited possibilities of what, what you can say to it, which you can't possibly test, because it's different every time and AI is sort of random.

That randomness is what got the AI toys from the PIRG report in trouble. Lucich wanted to avoid that pitfall, so his company intentionally developed Poe without an AI chatbot.

LUCIC: It's a closed world, which allows us to control the input, which makes it much, much, much easier to control.

That means you can’t talk to Poe. But Poe can talk to you.

POE: I am so excited to make stories together, but before we can do that, you need to install the Poe story creator app…

I decided to try Poe out, so I bought the thirty-five dollar toy from Amazon. As Poe directed, I downloaded the story creator app on my phone and my three kids chose from a preselected list of characters, settings, story types, and plot devices.

POE: Zane, juggling planets in zero gravity, chuckled. “That’s neat, Sparky, but I’ve got my eyes on that interdimensional portal over there. Who knows where it leads? Just then, a ghost floated by, carrying, of all things, a hamburger. “Boo, enjoy this tasty conundrum.”

My 9-year-old, Arthur, said Poe wasn’t perfect, but he was still impressed.

ARTHUR: The bear was talking kind of fast, so I couldn't process everything that he was saying.

Arthur intends to keep playing with Poe. So will my 11-year-old son, Winston.

WINSTON: I think it was a good story, but it was also pretty weird.

My 14-year-old-did not like Poe, but the good news is, we didn’t run into anything inappropriate.

Other toy developers intend to resist the shiny new AI upgrades.

CHANG: I see the benefit that they're trying to bring to the world. But is it really a benefit?

Howard “Quiggly” Chang doesn’t think so. As a toy creator working on a line of Biblical action figures, Chang says companies have approached him about adding AI to his toys. He admits it’s tempting, but he thinks it would defeat the purpose of his toy, and toys in general.

CHANG: Toys are supposed to kind of stimulate creativity and imagination. I feel technology has slowly taken imagination and creativity out of our lives.

Decent AI toys exist, but parents will have to do a bit of homework to distinguish the sketchy toys from safer ones.

HUGHES: If you want to get your kids something, at least, read the fine print, find out what kind of technology is in there.

Donna Rice Hughes is head of the internet safety group Enough is Enough. Hughes says there will always be other great children’s toys out there if parents want to steer clear of AI in the playroom.

HUGHES: I would just say, why take a risk? Just get them a regular teddy bear.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Juliana Chan Erikson.

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