As the holiday season approaches, artificial intelligence-powered smart toys pose hidden risks to children that should prompt precautions, according to a new report from a consumer advocacy group.
These toys use AI models, like the popular ChatGPT, to have conversations with children, which could include inappropriate content and addictive tactics for the young users, said Ellen Hengesbach of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.
“AI toys are here. They are brand new, and they are basically unregulated,” Hengesbach said at a news conference at Lurie Children’s Hospital on Monday to announce the release of the group’s 40th annual ”Trouble in Toyland” report. “They can be entertaining, but parents may want to think carefully before bringing one home.”
The AI toys are a main focus of this year’s report. The group tested three AI toys currently on the market and found that some of the toys could be prompted to provide information that can be dangerous to children, like how to find knives, pills and matches in the house, or discuss sexually explicit topics.
The report also identified features of the toys that could encourage children to continue playing, making the toys possibly addictive.
The researchers found that when they told the toy that they wanted to leave, the toys would ask follow-up questions and sometimes discourage the user from leaving.
“Some experts are sounding the alarm that this is a massive experiment on kids’ social development,” Hengesbach said. “These products call themselves your buddy, your friend, your companion, but AI friends don’t act the same way real friends do.”
These toys, like earlier generations of smart toys, also use microphones and cameras to capture data and send it to third-party AI companies, which poses a privacy risk, the report says.
Hengesbach said after the report’s publication that the toymaker FoloToy announced it would pull its AI-powered stuffed bear Kumma, which the report identified as having especially weak guardrails, and conduct a safety audit.
Other issues in this year’s report focused on toys that contain harmful toxins, counterfeit toys that are likely not tested for safety, and water beads and toys with cell batteries or high-powered magnets that create a choking risk.
Abe Scarr, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, recommended that parents should only buy from reputable stores and online platforms, be mindful of foreign counterfeits and check toys for choking hazards.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has announced her retirement from Congress after this term, said she hopes to work with groups like PIRG on consumer safety during her remaining time in office. She said she has been “disappointed” in Congress’ effort to regulate Big Tech in recent years.
“There used to be lots and lots of names of organizations and products that were unsafe for children,” Schakowsky said. “And despite the fact that the numbers are smaller, we are still in trouble and obligated to make sure that safety has been at the top of the importance for our families, for our children.”
