What Happens When Your Child’s Friend Is An AI-Powered Toy?

Artificial intelligence-powered toys could be your child’s best friend but also come with a host of privacy and other concerns.

(Photo Courtesy: My friend Clay’s website)

Artificial intelligence-powered toys could be your child’s best friend but also come with a host of privacy and other concerns.

My Friend Cayla is one such internet-connected doll that’s found itself under fire. German regulators have asked parents to destroy these toys and branded them as “an illegal espionage apparatus”, the World Economic Forum said in a recent blog highlighting threats posed by these toys. Similarly, Mattel’s Aristotle, “all-in-one voice-controlled baby monitor”, too was discontinued, The Washington Post reported.

Besides, parents need to think about what these toys are saying to children, Kay Firth-Butterfield, the World Economic Forum’s head of artificial tntelligence and machine learning said in the blog post. Besides, they may enable hackers to spy on and communicate directly with children, she wrote.

(This story was originally published on BloombergQuint)