Call me paranoid, but I am not okay with these products.
It’s happening! The future is officially here and its encroaching more and more each day. Whether its the hint of hoverboards or cars that drive themselves, the future is coming at us with rapid speed. We can now add a new item to our growing list of science-fiction technology, and this one is a doozy.
Fisher Price’s Smart Toy Bear is an interactive Teddy Bear that contains artificial intelligence and will “help your child grow socially and emotionally,” according to the toy’s Amazon page. It connects to WiFi and cell phones to keep your child engaged and adventurous.
Here’s the commercial for the Smart Toy Bear:
But Teddy Bears aren’t the only terrifying Chucky/Skynet combo toy.
Barbie is getting in on the intelligent action too. Hello Barbie, an interactive Barbie doll that uses WiFi technology to communicate with her user, is another smorgasbord of all our horror movie fantasies. She was displayed at the New York Toy Convention in February 2015.
Barbie has learned a few new tricks since her creation in 1959:
Here’s how the doll works:
According to Portland Press Herald, Hello Barbie uses a combination of technologies to have an actual conversation with a child. She has a microphone to record conversations, which are transferred to a computer server via WiFi. Voice-recognition technology then figures out what the child said and uses an algorithm to determine how to respond.
The average user of the toy is between ages 3 to 9, and conversations with Hello Barbie can involve as many as 200 exchanges. With each exchange, the toy becomes more personalized and it learns its users interests and desires.
2015 comes with a Teddy Bear that takes us on adventures and a Barbie that replaces a best friend.
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this technology and we are slowly working our way towards an artificially intelligent society. But, as our trusty neighborhood Spider-Man tells us, “with great power, comes great responsibility.”
According to the University of Michigan, the average 2-year-old spends 32 hours a week in front of the television. That’s over 4 hours a day spent in front of a device that does not contribute to a child ability to learn, play, or grow. While these toys don’t have a screen to placate children, they certainly step in for normal social skills.
Is it really a good idea to socialize our children with an artificially intelligent Teddy Bear in one hand a television in the other?
I don’t have kids and I feel I can’t answer this question. I can say, however, that I would like the younger generation to be filled with kids that know how to talk to people, not kids that prefer to talk to toys.
[Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Love This Pic]