‘I love you too!’ My family’s creepy, unsettling week with an AI toy (www.theguardian.com)
from Powderhorn@beehaw.org to technology@beehaw.org on 16 Sep 13:05
https://beehaw.org/post/22185868

‘I’m going to throw that thing into a river!” my wife says as she comes down the stairs looking frazzled after putting our four-year-old daughter to bed.

To be clear, “that thing” is not our daughter, Emma*. It’s Grem, an AI-powered stuffed alien toy that the musician Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, helped develop with toy company Curio. Designed for kids aged three and over and built with OpenAI’s technology, the toy is supposed to “learn” your child’s personality and have fun, educational conversations with them. It’s advertised as a healthier alternative to screen time and is part of a growing market of AI-powered toys.

When I agreed to experiment on my child’s developing brain, I thought an AI chatbot in cuddly form couldn’t be any worse for her than watching Peppa Pig. But I wasn’t prepared for how attached Emma became to Grem, or how unsettlingly obsequious the little alien was.

#technology

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SageMountain@beehaw.org on 16 Sep 17:53 next collapse

Pretty sure there’s multiple movies on why this shouldn’t exist

NoForwadSlashS@piefed.social on 16 Sep 18:24 next collapse

I certainly wouldn't trust an AI friend from Grimes for numerous reasons.

yetAnotherUser@lemmy.ca on 17 Sep 07:41 next collapse

I’d say that this article’s arguments on not letting a child alone with an AI chatbot are pretty compelling. I think parents should read the article, specifically parents that don’t know much about AI.

spit_evil_olive_tips@beehaw.org on 17 Sep 08:17 next collapse

It’s advertised as a healthier alternative to screen time

vaping and e-cigarettes were initially advertised as a way for cigarette smokers to quit.

JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca on 17 Sep 12:04 collapse

And it did help me quit tobacco, I can hardly stand to smoke a whole cig anymore. But in turn it destroyed my gut, so now I use pouches. We’ll see how these fuck me up, probably rot my gums or something.

Megaman_EXE@beehaw.org on 17 Sep 09:27 collapse

You can see how Curio’s website could be mistaken for satire. The “girl” in the promotional video is Grimes, who has prominent “alien scar” tattoos and is inexplicably kneeling next to a knife.

I had to reread that part

ClassifiedPancake@discuss.tchncs.de on 17 Sep 10:59 collapse

How this is just a sidenote in the article is beyond me. Why did they intentionally place a knife there? So messed up.