AI toys monitor children with technology from Microsoft, OpenAI and Epic Games

The toy manufacturer Curio sells plush toys for three to twelve-year-olds that collect conversations with an AI voice in the USA and other countries.

Toy manufacturer Curio has started selling plush toys in the USA and other English-speaking countries that talk to children using an AI voice. The three models are called Grok, Grem and Gabbo and are marketed for children aged between three and twelve. The net price is 99 US dollars. There are also costs for a subscription model to unlock "new functions and services". Without a subscription, only a few basic functions will be available.

The soft toys are equipped with a microphone and loudspeaker and forward children's requests to Microsoft servers in the Azure cloud via a Wi-Fi module. A language model from OpenAI, which acts as a service provider for Curio, runs there. The language model sends its answers back to the soft toy, which responds with a child's voice.

Parents can access the transcriptions of the conversations via an app. According to the privacy policy, Curio stores the transcribed conversations for 90 days and analyzes them to improve its offering. Parents can opt out of the collection of certain data.

Beta test with children

In order to get onto the market quickly before Christmas, the manufacturer Curio has obviously not yet completed its product and security tests.The "Beta" logo is emblazoned on the advertising page.Information on the data used to train the language models and details on the content filters are missing. Nevertheless, you can already order the cuddly toys for your children on the website so that they are delivered in time for Christmas Eve.Subscription services are to follow next year.

In addition to the USA, Curio says it also supplies Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The EU and Germany are (initially) excluded. In addition to Curio, other providers with AI toys are likely to enter the market soon. Two years ago, the EU Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) called for more data protection and IT security for toys that can be connected to the internet. Many toys sold in the EU continue to pose a "significant risk" to consumers.

Source: www.heise.de