ChatGPT-style teddy bears could read bedtime stories, toymaker claims 

Teddy bears reading your kids’ stories sounds like a horror movie premise, but one expert says it will become a reality within five years.

Allan Wong, co-founder of toymaker VTech, thinks plush toys will be equipped with AI that will provide an alternative for parents who read to their children.

As a cross between ChatGPT and Furby, the toy would listen to everything the child says and use the data to create personalized bedtime stories.

AI-enabled stuffed animals will likely be available in 2028, Wong said, though he admitted the possibilities of smart technology are “a little scary.”

Smart toys from the founded company Wong have already been the subject of a Which? report them as they may be vulnerable to hacking by strangers.

Wong said AI-powered plushies would use chatbot-like methods to “generate stories tailored to the child rather than read from a book,” freeing up the parents to do other activities.

As the child becomes more attached to their toys and reveals more about his or her daily life, the ted gets smarter and smarter.

“Not only can you record the child’s name, but also the child’s daily activities,” Wong told the Financial times.

‘[It] do you know what school you go to, who your friends are. It can actually tell a story and talk almost like a good friend.

“The kids… can really talk to the toys, and the toys can really give [them] one answer – so many, many possibilities.’

VTech has already released a wide variety of smart kids’ toys, including touchscreen tablets, smartwatches, cameras, and the KidiSnap Touch – a phone-like device that takes photos and lets users send messages to their friends.

It’s unclear if Wong’s company is working on AI-assisted plushies to add to the list, though he said it’s watching AI’s potential in products “very closely.”

Such a teddy bear should be equipped with a microphone to listen to what the child is saying 24/7 unless he is turned off, as well as a speaker to talk to the child, much like the popular 90s Furby toy.

Allan Wong (pictured) is co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong toy maker and electronics company VTech

Some device built into the toy takes the audio, processes it, and returns a response to the child, perhaps similar to the Furby a programmer linked to ChatGPT earlier this year.

Wong admitted that toymakers should be aware of the potential security and privacy issues before such a device ever hits the market.

If the teddy bear becomes like a “good friend” to the child, he or she wouldn’t think twice about telling them highly personal information that could somehow wind their way back to the company.

Jake Moore, security specialist at ESET, said such a gadget could potentially expose a lot of sensitive data, possibly about mom or dad.

“Every time information such as the child’s name and interests are entered into an AI algorithm, the data is stored, analyzed and possibly even shared with third parties for a fee, which could create security and privacy issues in the future,” Moore said. . Mail Online.

“Children need to adapt to the new era of AI, but they also need to be taught about the risks and how and when to limit sharing of personal data.”

The ‘creepy’ concept of AI hugs has already been mentioned by the London non-profit organization 5rights Foundation, which works to protect children online.

In 2021, 5rights unveiled a line of fake toys called ‘Twisted Toys’ as part of a campaign to highlight the potential dangers of giving kids smart devices.

The range included a Share Bear that collects and shares a child’s data and a Pocket Troll that scrutinizes every moment of a child’s day and bombards them with unkind comments.

There was also a terms and conditions storybook that would take hundreds of hours to read and a “stalkie-talkie” that allowed strangers to communicate with children.

Campaign group 5Rights launched ‘Twisted Toys’ including a Share Bear (pictured) that collects and shares a child’s data

Wong thinks generative AI — algorithms like ChatGPT that can be used to create new content — are currently “not mature” enough to apply to toys.

It will take time to resolve privacy issues and wait for the cost of the technology to drop before examples hit the market.

Global interest in generative AI, which learns how to take actions from past data to create new content, has exploded since the release of ChatGPT by Microsoft-backed OpenAI late last year.

Its success reportedly caused panic among Google and fears that its days as the world’s number one search engine could soon come to an end.

Google scrambled to find Bard, which received a limited release in March before being released globally last month — and it outperformed its rival ChatGPT when the two were tested by MailOnline.

In addition to ChatGPT and Bard, My AI is built into the social media app Snapchat, YouChat from the American search engine You.com and Ernie Bot from the Chinese company Baidu.