What Parents in China See in A.I. Toys

This video of a girl crying over a broken AI chatbot has gone viral in China. Xiaozhi AI is powered by artificial intelligence and can have long conversations with six-year-old Shisan Hu. The device and similar chatbot toys are part of a multibillion-dollar AI toy industry expected to grow rapidly in China. What is a black hole? Black hole — Some of these chatty toys are on their way to the United States, where parents are voicing concerns about chatbots and young children engaging in inappropriate conversations. But many parents, like Zelei Hu in China, are embracing chatbot toys. The father said that his daughter was an only child and he decided to buy Xiaozhi AI so that she would have a companion. So Hu went to the character profile section in the control panel and typed in how he wanted the toy to interact with Shisan. The father then told the device to focus on teaching English and astronomy. Hu said he sees the chatbot toy as a family member. For Shisan, Xiaozhi AI is not a toy. One of the best aspects of the device, the father said, is that it eliminates distractions. After talking to the chatbot every day for a month, it broke. Hu said seeing her daughter get so emotional made her worried that her daughter was too attached to her. Eventually, the father decided to repair the toy because he said his attitude towards AI technology had changed.