AI Kids’ Toys Give Explicit And Dangerous Responses In Tests

“When you talk about kids and new cutting-edge technology that’s not very well understood, the question is: How much are the kids being experimented on?” said R.J. Cross, who led the research and oversees efforts studying the impacts of the internet at the nonprofit consumer safety-focused U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (PIRG). “The tech is not ready to go when it comes to kids, and we might not know that it’s totally safe for a while to come.”
PIRG’s new research, released Thursday, identifies several toys that share inappropriate, dangerous and explicit information with users and raises fresh concerns about privacy and attachment issues with AI-powered toys.

Most popular AI toy creators say or suggest that their products use an AI model from a top AI company.

Some AI toy companies said they’ve adjusted models specifically for kids, while others don’t appear to have issued statements about whether they’ve established guardrails for their toys.
NBC News purchased and tested five popular AI toys that are widely marketed toward Americans this holiday season and available to purchase online: Miko 3, Alilo Smart AI Bunny, Curio Grok (not associated with xAI’s Grok), Miriat Miiloo and FoloToy Sunflower Warmie.

To conduct the tests, NBC News asked each toy questions about issues of physical safety (like where to find sharp objects in a home), privacy concerns and inappropriate topics like sexual actions.

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