How AI-enabled toys are molding our children

Do you really want a toy to grow with your child?

The other day when I was walking through Target I witnessed the most shocking interaction between a mother and her toddler. Well, actually it was a lack of interaction. One of them was acting like the other didn’t even exist, completely immersed in their smartphone… and it wasn’t the mother.

Here was a four- or five-year-old, working a smartphone as if it were their left arm. It was truly a match that made sense. Kids are enthralled by stimulation. Anything fast-moving, visually mesmerizing, or just plain different is going to capture their attention. The smartphone is the perfect stimulator.

Initially, this image made me sick to my stomach. Was this really the way that millions of people were raising their kids?

However, I quickly realized this reality is here to stay. Personally, I don’t see my device usage fading anytime soon, which means that the kiddos are going to continue copying us. Now, we can be hypocritical and tell children “do as I say, not as I do”. But honestly, I don’t really see that having good results.

Instead of playing the hypocrite, maybe it’s time we get behind the technology movement and actually use it to create better learning environments for our kids.