AI in every Barbie, Ken, & Action Figure. What could possibly Go Wrong?

Simple Fact: If you want to truly manage risk, think of the worst possible situation that can occur. Then realize that is the BEST CASE SCENARIO. And try again. Repeat until you are literally shaking in your boots at the thought of what could happen. Only then have you identified the real risk!

Mattel has signed a deal with Open-AI to put AI in all its toys, which target K-12. (Dot.LA)

The White House has pledged AI education for K-12. (Babl.AI)

So what’s the worst that can happen?

It’s NOT the stunted mental development that will likely result. (If it erodes critical thinking skills and leads to cognitive decline in fully developed adults, what will it do to children??? [Time] For those with certain developmental disabilities, it could mean reading, righting, and ‘rithmetic are a thing of the past! [And how long did we struggle to get near universal literacy in first world countries?])

It’s the EXPLOITATION. And not just the exploitation by manufacturers, who will also sign deals with OpenAI and other AI providers, to ensure not only cognitive and emotional dependence on their products [ Futurism ], but by hackers. [And we know cybersecurity isn’t keeping up. In most countries, successful cyber attack rates have penetrated 44% to 74% of all businesses, with up to 94% of businesses being targeted! That’s right. In the least targeted of the first world countries, at least 50% of business have been hacked in the past year. In the most targeted, 75% of businesses. ]

First, let me remind you that sleeper code can be injected into these models. [ Cornell ]

Now let me remind (or, for most of you, inform) you that over 300 Million children a year are victims of technology-facilitated exploitation and abuse. [ ChildLight.org ]

Getting the picture yet? Just imagine what these transgressive deviants are going to do with these talking “toys” that will be by your child’s side every waking minute of every day (due to the dependence described above). (Or, if you want to keep your sanity, don’t — but acknowledge this reality nonetheless.) Predatory grooming will reach whole new levels. Terrified yet? You should be!

Don’t give me any BS that these systems will have heightened security (because toy manufacturers have no clue how to secure advanced software systems, and software providers have no incentive to do any more than meet the minimum regulatory requirements) or that testing will prevent it (as the research paper above showed that it won’t). Hackers and transgressive deviants never give up. Let’s not give them yet another tool to exploit!

So now will you join me in Declaring war on Open-Access LLMs?!?

Postscript:
And, FYI, it won’t necessarily be Mattel and Hasbro that you will have to worry about (too much). They will (hopefully) be under heavy scrutiny. But there are over 2,700 businesses in the toy, doll, and game manufacturing industry in the USA and somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 toy factories in China. There’s no way we can monitor even a fraction of them!