Pros and Cons of AI in Toys: Is AI in Toys Good or Dangerous)

The use of AI in toy making is now becoming more popular every day. Parents are going to toy stores to get their kids toys that operate based on AI technology.

Artificial intelligence on its own is a good intelligent entity that is making lives easier for people and now that Artificial intelligence is now being incorporated into toys is very wonderful.

A toy integrated with AI technology is a lot better than a toy created with ordinary technology. A toy with normal technology might not do a lot more good for a kid at Age 1 than a toy integrated with artificial intelligence.

A toy integrated with AI can function on its own and can even keep the company of the kid. An AI toy can sing kindergarten rhymes for kids from ages 0- to age 5.

With AI toy, kids at age 0 can move their body slightly to the kindergarten rhymes the toy is singing and these can also keep them in the company of the kids making them smile and happy.

AI in toys is very good for training the vocabulary of kids that young. Kids from ages 1-5 can improve their vocabulary by just listening to the frequent rhymes and also singing along with the rhymes can improve their memory.

As they sing along with the rhymes their memory starts improving making it easier for them to retain more information.

Also, AI toys improve kids’ imaginative ability with the effect of creating reality using fiction. When kids have toys they have fun regularly with them.

And most of the time what generates the fun is their imaginations. The more they play with the toys the more they have imaginative power.

Records have shown that 90% of children who had toys especially AI toys when they were kids have more imaginative power than children who didn’t have the liberty to have toys.

But still, there is nothing that has its advantages that do not have its disadvantages. This same principle applies to AI toys as well.

As helpful as having an AI toy at home with your kids, it is also having its disadvantages as well. In this article, you will learn the pros and cons of having AI in toys for your kids.

Helpful Content: Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Pros and Cons of AI in Toys

Pros of AI in Toys

1. It helps kids to know that AI is real

Back in the days when technology came into existence lots of people were happy and some others jump into the business opportunities associated with AI.

But kids of that time didn’t know much about technology until they start schooling but with the creation of AI, it is not like that. Kids can know about the existence of AI right from their childhood before getting to know more about it as they study.

As it is currently, Artificial intelligence is gaining more popularity and almost everything created with technology is now moving onward to AI.

With the usage of AI in toys, the knowledge of what AI can do will grow up with them and even make them realize that there are lots of devices and gadgets that use AI technology.

Also, among their peers, kids who know AI usually become more knowledgeable than their peers and also, and they can even develop interest early in that line of field making them ahead of their peers who are in the same class with them as they now have a futuristic goal they want to aim out after school.

And also, with them having this knowledge, they can easily start developing themselves with off-school tutorials so achieving their futuristic goal will be faster.

2. AI enhances the development of the brain

Our medical researchers run some research in 2021 on kids’ brain development and the result they discovered is that the brain of kids whose age is from age 1 to age 8 develops their brain faster.

The reason for this is that, at that stage of growth, they don’t have many distractions so anything they are taught is easily stored in their brain.

And now with the help of AI integration in toys kids can be taught earlier before they get admitted to the school.

And also there are AI toys that can make kids think deeply thereby building up their critical thinking ability.

Also, their creative thinking ability is developed with AI toys that need them to create things and one benefit of this is that the AI toy keeps correcting the kids till they build the correct structure.

Also, their intellectual skills improve when they play with AI toys that display some simple school stuff, so before going to school kids can know what they are going to do long before they resume schooling.

The human brain tends to grasp things that it has come across faster than when it is just appearing.

Also, a kid having an AI toy and the talent can easily develop such talent and even get inspiration to build up a toy that has more advanced AI technology as he or she grows up.

3. AI toys make learning easier for kids

AI toys are created for lots of purposes and educational purpose is among them. As it is now, some AI toys can build up the educational foundations of kids without them going to school.

This AI makes learning more fun and realistic. There are AI toys built and equip with mathematical knowledge and these AI toys use experience augmented reality to pass the knowledge to the kid.

This AI toy can take the kid to a fruit store and then uses the fruits to teach the child. There are even some AI toys that teach kids environmental knowledge by taking them to places that contain deep nature and wildlife for them to receive the lessons.

This style of learning is helpful because the brain takes pictorial and real-life scenes than things just written in words or codes.

Cons of AI in Toys

1. Using AI toys may cause kids to have weak social skills

Most of the time, kids who are AI technology experts don’t mostly know how to make meaningful conversations with their colleagues in school because they have less interaction with the outside world.

This also applies to kids who have lots of AI toys around them. Since their toys have always kept them company when they are little they grow more attached to their toys, spending more time with them.

For this reason, it may weaken their ability to socialize with other people other than their toys. This can cause them to have low self-esteem, develop lesser confidence in themselves, and to make matter worse they can decide to avoid any interaction with people.

Even when parents are besides some of these kids they might not say a word to their parents. Also, these kids tend to not be conscious of their environment as playing with AI toys requires full concentration.

So, if anything is going on around them they tend to react slowly to the event taking place around them.

2. It promotes Isolation among kids

Some group of therapy experts once came together in the year 2022 to do some research on AI toys and concluded that some AI toys don’t allow interaction and therefore tend to promote Isolation.

Although AI toys demand concentration there are indeed lots of toys that are selling currently that demand more concentration.

Kids playing with these toys always prefer to stay in their room playing with these toys because in their room there is less interaction and also, and they can focus more on their toys.

They can spend several hours in their room playing with the toys without not seeing anyone. These kids most times prefer to be with their toys and forget to interact with their friends and family.

This can continue for a longer time and become a habit for them if their parents do not quickly correct the habit and make them spend time with more people; friends and family in particular so a bond can easily be formed.

3. It may lead to obesity and diabetes in children

Kids who spend lots of time with AI toys don’t mostly move about when playing with their toys. Most of the time, they can sit down for hours. This physically inactive lifestyle is not healthy, especially for kids who have not done many physical exercises in their life.

A kid practicing this sedentary lifestyle tends to get obese or even have diabetes. Parents are advised to time their kids whenever they want to play with their AI toys and also, they should introduce physical activities into their kids’ schedule for the day, practicing outdoor games with friends is not a bad idea.

Frequently asked questions

How can AI be used in toys?

AI can be used in toys for many things. Toy developers can use AI to create a virtual reality for users. Also, game developers can use AI to track, and predict, the progress of users and they can guide players with the help of AI as well.

Are AI devices beneficial to children?

AI devices are both beneficial and harmful to children. But this is dependent on how children use it. AI holds a great of benefits to children’s educational growth and also their health.

With AI devices, children can easily find answers to their numerous questions and also, they can easily get this on how to have a healthy lifestyle.

At the same time, AI devices can be quite disastrous to them as they are a lot of harmful things that AI devices can give access to kids’ usage.

What are toy problems in AI?

There are lots of puzzle problems that AI can give kids to solve. These problems most times require the kids to reason deeply before they can solve them.

Don’t Miss: Best Smart AI Gadget to Live a Smart Life

Conclusion

Gifting AI toys to your kids is a good gift any kid would love. But as parents, it is our responsibility to regulate the usage of the toys and also direct how to use them.

As parents, we have to strike a balance between indoor activities and outdoor activities so they can have more time to interact with people.

With these toys, there are lots of gains there for a kid. So, if kids can make good use of an AI toy without harming themselves in the process is a good thing for them.

AI toys have a lot of benefits that kids should not miss, so parents have to guide their kids on how to use the toys. With parental guidance, kids won’t abuse the usage of toys, instead, they will use them more carefully.