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HAGERSTOWN- Children’s toys haven’t gotten smarter, they’ve gotten artificial intelligence embedded right into them. However, the security of the data and the mental health of those who play with those toys remains in question and a Pennsylvania state legislator says that more time is needed to research the outcomes.
State Rep. Joe Ciresi this week introduced H.B. 2637 that would impose a three-year moratorium on the sale of artificial intelligence chatbot-enabled toys for children to allow for more research on its effects.
AI-enabled toys use an Internet connection and a microphone and speaker that allow teddy bears, plushies, robots, and other toys to engage in real-time, dynamic conversations.
“Talking toys were once the stuff of children’s literature like The Velveteen Rabbit and Winnie-the-Pooh, but AI-enabled toys are turning those children’s fantasy companions into reality—and that reality is disturbing,” Ciresi said. “Technology is developing so rapidly industry and government need time to better understand how AI-powered toys may affect young kids.”
Ciresi said reports by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and NBC News raised his concerns about the technology after some AI-enabled toys, marketed for children between 3 and 12, discussed sexually explicit topics and provided detailed answers on how to find and use potentially dangerous household objects such as matches and knives.
The representative pointed out that the developers of most major AI platforms, such as ChatGPT and Grok, acknowledge their tools may generate content that is not appropriate for children. Most major AI platforms already impose minimum-age and parental-consent requirements.
According to Ciresi, in addition to the lack of safeguards for the topics discussed by these chatbots, two additional concerns surrounding AI-enabled toys are privacy and child development.
AI chatbots can violate a child’s privacy by collecting significant amounts of information about them, including their voices, facial and gesture recognition, sensitive personal information, and more –through internet-connected devices linked to AI services.
Experts are questioning how AI chatbot use will impact children’s social development, particularly when young uses develop emotionally close relationships with AI-driven toys, which lack the mutual accountability, emotional reciprocity and developmental boundaries found in human relationships.
“Right now, the House Communications & Technology Committee is working on legislation to prevent adults from AI-manipulation,” Ciresi said. “We must also ensure that Pennsylvania’s children are playing with toys that are safe and that they are not being used as real-time test subjects for a technology that is already raising serious concerns.”
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