As the cost of artificial intelligence drops, teddy bears powered by generative AI could chat with children and tell them personal bedtime stories, according to the world’s largest toy maker. .
The technology behind the ChatGPT chatbot could be available in toys as early as 2028 and could be used to teach or instill values such as not telling lies, US officials say. said Alan Wong, chairman and chief executive of VTech Holdings, which owns LeapFrog, based in We develop e-learning products.
Wong said he is “very closely monitoring” the possibility of Hong Kong-listed VTech using generative AI in its products, but feels that some of the possibilities are “a bit scary.” also admitted.
Smart toys could “use AI to generate customized stories for kids, rather than reading books,” he told the Financial Times.
“You can include not only the child’s name, but also the child’s daily activities. [It] I know what school you go to. . . who are your friends You can actually tell stories and talk to them like they’re best friends,” he said.
“Kids… you can actually talk to the toys and the toys can actually give you something. [them] reaction,” he explained. “So [there are] There are many, many possibilities. “
But when it comes to generative AI, “I think we need to be aware of the dangers of privacy, security, what should be taught and what should not be taught,” he said. I was.
Regulators in many parts of the world are stepping up scrutiny of the risks inherent in powerful generative AI technologies, including copyright and surveillance concerns and what guidelines need to be established for their use. increase.
Wong admitted that generative AI is “not mature” enough to apply to toys at this point. He said it will take time not only to wait until the cost of the technology drops, but also to solve the privacy problem.
The special chip used in ChatGPT is made by Nvidia and has boosted the company’s stock market valuation to more than $1 trillion, but it’s still too expensive for a toy, Wong said.
“I think we’ll have to wait another five years or so for prices to drop to a certain level. Then we can adapt a subset of those AI chips for toys. But it’s coming.”
The global market for smart toys is worth about $14 billion this year and is expected to grow to $43 billion by 2032, according to data from Mordor Intelligence.
With more than 61 million children under the age of five compared to about 21 million in North America, according to United Nations statistics, China will become an increasingly important market despite declining birth rates. Mr. Wong said.
But adaptation of “Western-style” educational toys by Chinese consumers was “slower than expected,” he said.
With a market capitalization of around $1.6 billion, VTech is also one of the world’s largest cordless phone makers, and was an early adopter of the “China plus one” manufacturing strategy, acquiring manufacturing plants in Malaysia in 2018 and 2020. Mr. Wong admitted that there is. The move comes after some “buyers preferred the products to be manufactured outside of China for political reasons.” The company also manufactures in Mexico.
He said the company has no plans to move more production lines out of China, with about 75% of its capacity.
“China’s supply chain is so important that I don’t think the U.S. will be cut off from China,” he said. “Overall, China remains the most cost-effective manufacturing base.”
