Jonathan Haidt, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, whose book “The Anxious Generation” sparked a global discussion about the impact of smartphones and social media on young people’s mental health, has a new concern: AI toys. Designed for children.
In a recent TED talk, Haidt said the burgeoning market for AI-powered toys and chatbots could become someone children have emotional attachments to, disrupting their relationships with their parents.
“The AI toy market is booming. Chatbots are being built into dolls and teddy bears,” said Hite.
Although he didn’t mention specific products, a growing category of AI-powered toys and companions has emerged in recent years.
Examples include Moxie, an AI-powered social robot designed to be a child’s friend, tutor, and mentor, and chatbot-enabled dolls and teddy bears developed by startups like Curio. Toy giant Mattel is also partnering with OpenAI to explore AI-powered products, showing how quickly the category is evolving.
Market research firm Grand View Research predicts that the global smart toy market, including AI toys, will grow from $14.39 billion in 2025 to $44 billion by 2033.
Social psychologists said these products are designed to be highly responsive to children, providing comfort, conversation and companionship whenever they need it.
Constant availability can be particularly appealing to younger users.
“These chatbots are very responsive to children. They’re always there to provide reassurance and be there for the child. And of course, parents are often busy,” Hite said.
The dangers of artificial relationships
Haidt’s warning comes as AI companions are already reshaping people’s social and romantic lives.
Users said they fell in love with their AI partners, relied on chatbots for daily companionship, and even feared losing the relationships they had built with their virtual companions.
But Haidt’s interests center on how children form attachments.
Young children are naturally drawn to people who consistently meet their needs, he said. If AI companions become more reliably responsive than parents, they could begin to play an unhealthy role in a child’s emotional development.
“If the chatbot is very responsive and the parent is low, the child’s attachment system, which is looking for who is responsive to me in my environment, could become imprinted or focused on the chatbot, thereby damaging the child’s relationship with the parent,” said Hite.
technoskeptic
This warning is part of a broader discussion that Haidt is having about what he calls “technological skepticism.”
he said Society has moved too quickly in allowing social media companies to shape children’s social lives and education technology companies to reshape classrooms.
“We’re letting social media companies take over our children’s social lives, and they’re having a negative impact on our children’s social lives and their mental health,” he said, adding, “We’re letting ed-tech companies take over our children’s schools, and they seem to be doing more harm than good.”
Now, he said, AI companies are targeting an even more intimate part of childhood: relationships.
“AI companies are coming in to be their relationship, their friend, their therapist,” Hite said. “What could go wrong?”
He said AI therapists could eventually play a role, but companies shouldn’t be allowed to introduce AI products that can emotionally persuade children without years of safety testing.
“Don’t give your child anything that tells them you understand or care about them,” says Hite. “Because it’s not.”