Consumer safety report warns of disturbing responses from AI-powered toys
New research finds that some toys powered by artificial intelligence directed children to dangerous household items and generated explicit content.
(InvestigateTV) — A new consumer safety report warns parents about the growing market of toys with artificial intelligence, with researchers saying some of these AI toys can deliver unexpected and sometimes disturbing responses to children.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group unveiled its annual "Trouble in Toyland" report at a press conference in Washington, D.C. In addition to chemical and safety hazards, this year’s report examines a growing category: AI-powered toys.
“This year, we’re focused on toxics in toys and the new frontier of toys powered by artificial intelligence,” said Lillian Tracy, consumer watchdog associate with the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
In their new report, PIRG found that some AI toys would direct children to potentially dangerous household items – including plastic bags, matches and knives.PIRG says the most concerning findings came from an AI-enabled teddy bear that also generated sexually explicit responses during testing.
“The AI toy market is brand new – and going to grow a lot soon," Tracy said. “This market is a new frontier. A lot of unexpected and dangerous things can happen.”
The difference between AI toys and traditional electronic toys lies in their unpredictability, Tracy explained.
“AI toys, though, they can give you a different answer to the same question over and over and over again because they don’t have those same pre-programmed responses,” she said. “And when you don’t have those pre-programmed responses – you generally have a lot more points of failure in children’s safety.”
PIRG has since expanded its testing and found another AI toy capable of having sexually explicit conversations: the Alilo Smart AI Bunny.
Both FoloToy’s Kumma bear and the Alilo bunny claim to be powered by a version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The findings were detailed in a follow-up report titled "AI comes to playtime: Artificial companions, real risks.“
InvestigateTV contacted Alilo for comment but has not yet received a response.
One day after the report was released, PIRG says FoloToy – the maker of the Kumma bear – delisted all of the products for sale on its website. The teddy bear has since been relisted on the site.
In a statement, the company said some responses in the report may have come from an early-stage model, and that its current devices now use “stronger safeguards” to block adult content, references to weapons and other inappropriate responses.
The company added it is conducting a full safety review, including third-party evaluation.OpenAI also responded to the findings.
In a statement, an AI spokesperson wrote: “We suspended this developer for violating our policies. Our usage policies prohibit any use of our services to exploit, endanger, or sexualize anyone under 18 years old. These rules apply to every developer using our API, and we monitor and enforce them to ensure our services are not used to harm minors.”
If you’re shopping for toys this holiday season, PIRG recommends starting with age warnings on the label and thinking about whether a toy is appropriate for your child’s maturity level.
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