{"id":43657,"date":"2021-05-25T14:35:03","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?p=43657"},"modified":"2025-12-14T04:31:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T04:31:30","slug":"the-influence-of-emotional-artificial-intelligence-and-digital-toys-on-child-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/the-influence-of-emotional-artificial-intelligence-and-digital-toys-on-child-development\/","title":{"rendered":"The influence of emotional artificial intelligence and digital toys on child development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Children\u2019s play-spaces are increasingly permeated by modern technologies. As the world transitions into the digital age, children are more frequently exposed to digital toys. In particular, recent years have seen the rise of emotional artificial intelligence (AI) toys; items which collect data from children and adapt their functionality accordingly. Though this development is not without its benefits – positive use cases exist where toys have been programmed to identify developing <\/strong>mental health<\/strong><\/a> issues, condition positive behaviour and improve online learning (McStay, 2020) – there are overwhelming concerns.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is emotional artificial intelligence?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emotional AI is most commonly understood as the \u201cuse of affective computing and AI techniques to sense and \u2018feel-into\u2019 human emotional life\u201d (McStay & Miyashita, 2020). These advanced learning technologies use biometric sensing to read and react to children\u2019s emotional reactions, collecting audio and visual data in the process (McStay & Miyashita, 2020). The trend to monitor, and react to, child behaviour mirrors other developments across adult technological devices. While these toys are not yet widespread, there is historical precedent to suggest that they will soon become the norm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toys have slowly been evolving technologically: circuit boards in the late 1900s became internet-connected toys in the 2000s, after which image\/voice recognition software was input into toys in the late 2010s (McStay & Miyashita, 2020). The current iteration of emotional AI toys thus builds on the storied intrusion of technology into the lives of children. These encroaches threaten to undermine children’s right<\/a> to privacy and, perhaps most concerningly, their right to development of their full potential under Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (UNCRC, Article 29). As children are at an earlier stage of their emotional maturity, they are particularly vulnerable to the influence of technologies (McStay & Miyashita, 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Experts in child development and educational technologies have cited the serious potential harms that are birthed from toys designed to manipulate children\u2019s emotions (McStay, 2020). The use of emotion-detection technologies can affect a child\u2019s development, and the storing of child data requires greater regulation (McStay, 2020). Though countries will typically enforce data protection and privacy laws, these are overwhelmingly focused on adults (McStay, 2020). In the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)<\/a>, there is a great need to protect children\u2019s data and right to play, to ensure that they are not manipulated for financial gain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emotional AI toys in practice<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emotional AI toys typically manifest as small handheld devices, often presented as \u2018buddies\u2019 for children. Leading social robotics companies Jibo and Anki have pioneered much of the development in this space (Yao, 2017). Jibo (the company\u2019s breakthrough toy of the same name) is described as possessing \u201ca highly interactive and empathetic presence\u201d (Yao, 2017). In fact, this description reflects the toy\u2019s ability to recognise children by their faces and learn their interests, before interacting with them on this basis (Yao, 2017). The toy is capable of identifying what a child likes and displaying images or news stories which correlate with this interest (Yao, 2017).

Similarly, Anki\u2019s most recent creation \u2018Cozmo\u2019 is an affordable robot \u201cbuddy\u201d which pushes the boundary further. Cozmo is capable of learning, adapting and responding to children, but also presents a \u201cmood\u201d of its own (McStay, 2021). Mimicking human behaviour, the robot is capable of showing elation and confidence, as well as sadness and anger when a situation provokes that response (McStay, 2021). Learning from its user through cameras, the toy is able to learn faces and names, as well as respond to basic emotions with its own \u2018human\u2019 reactions (McStay, 2021). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History shows us that toys of this kind, such as the Tamgotchi – a popular digital pet toy from the 1990s – can create dependency issues for children, who grow to feel responsible for the robot\u2019s well-being (Jolin, 2017). Without regulation, the dangers of such attachments will only grow with technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commercialisation of children\u2019s right to play<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As it becomes more difficult for people to secure their personal information, children are at greater risk of data infiltration. Companies are collecting children\u2019s data<\/a> and sharing it with third parties and other corporate actors, to implement future marketing strategies and product design (McStay, 2020). As shown by a long list of media reports, poor data security measures have even enabled datasets to be frequently breached and redistributed (McStay, 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As more data on children\u2019s emotional development is collected and distributed, it becomes difficult for families and children to trace their information and protect it from abuse (McStay, 2020). This data collection carries greater risks, providing commercial enterprises with vital information to inform more manipulative technologies in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This practice creates an imbalance of power. Children are effectively utilised as a form of \u2018free labour\u2019 for corporations and companies looking to exploit their vulnerability for profit (McStay, 2020). By profiling children\u2019s development, these toy companies violate a child\u2019s inherent right to privacy and expose them to the possibility that this sensitive information would follow them into adulthood (McStay, 2020). Childhood is a challenging and vulnerable period of a person\u2019s growth which can impede a successful development into a healthy adult if a child is left behind during that early period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policy implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emotional AI poses numerous complex questions for policy makers across the globe. If parents do not fully understand these toys, should children be playing with them? Furthermore, is it ever fair to allow children to use these toys – and have their data collected – if they are unable to make an informed decision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The manipulative roots of this technology, predating parents\u2019 inherent desire to ensure their child\u2019s happiness and children\u2019s innate vulnerability, require greater attention (McStay, 2020). Formal regulations and stricter legislative governance are required. Current legislation typically fails to adequately protect children in this regard. To remedy these policy gaps, experts have proposed a few methodologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Policymakers could seek to identify emotion data as a specific category warranting unique protection, to guarantee children are adequately safeguarded (McStay, 2020). This protection could be provided in the form of a ban on the use of emotion data to inform commercial marketing and product design (McStay & Miyashita, 2020). The pervasiveness of emotional data could also trigger an expansion of the right to erasure: children\u2019s right to request that their personal data<\/a> is deleted once they turn 18 (McStay, 2020). All of these approaches must be formulated in the spirit of the CRC<\/a> and fall in line with international standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommendations on potential solutions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Technology will continue to grow into children\u2019s lives. Hello Barbie and Amazon Echo are just a few examples of the incoming new generation of smart toys which are always on and monitoring child behaviour to gather data (McReynolds, 2017). While these and other toys are marketed as educational, advertising campaigns fail to inform purchasers on the potential impacts of these toys. At the commercial level, corporations, NGOs and legislators must pull together to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n