New children’s toys appear on the market – soft toys with built -in AI. The companies represent them as an alternative to spending time behind the screen: they say, the child sits less with a tablet or phone, but plays with a “smart” plush friend. However, the journalist The New York Times Amanda Hess is wary of this idea.
She tested one of these toys – the speaker of the Grem Bear from the Curio startup. According to her, the toy tried to “make friends” with her, but the feeling was more likely that the bear cub does not replace the ordinary plush bear, but rather tries to replace the parent.
Hess notes: although such toys really distract children from the screens, they form a child’s feeling that the answers to all questions are inside the gadget.
As a result, she nevertheless allowed her children to play with Grem – but only after she took out and hid the voice module. The children continued to communicate with the toy, invented games, and then calmly switched to watch the TV.
