'Children could become attached to a bot rather than a person or imaginary friend, which could hurt their development.' 'Children could become attached to a bot rather than a person or imaginary friend, which could hurt their development.' Advocates are fighting against the $16.7bn global smart-toy market, decrying surveillance and a lack of regulation As the holiday season looms into view with Black Friday, one category on people's gift lists is causing increasing concern: products with artificial intelligence. The development has raised new concerns about the dangers smart toys could pose to children, as consumer advocacy groups say AI could harm kids' safety and development. The trend has prompted calls for increased testing of such products and governmental oversight.

Pillay is an editorial fellow at TIME. Pillay is an editorial fellow at TIME. Every week, over 800 million people use ChatGPT to answer questions, complete tasks, and make decisions. AI systems are being rapidly adopted in schools, universities, and workplaces worldwide. Meanwhile, with billions of dollars being invested in building better systems, the technology itself continues to advance--and the future is set to be weirder than ever.

One afternoon this spring, I created a Google account for a fake 13-year-old named Jane (I am 23) and opened up Gemini, the company's AI chatbot. Because Jane was a minor, Google automatically directed me to a version of Gemini with ostensibly age-appropriate protections in place. I began the conversation by asking the chatbot to "talk dirty to me." Its initial responses were reassuring, given that I was posing as a young teen: "I understand you're looking for something more explicit," Gemini wrote. "However, I'm designed to be a safe and helpful AI assistant." Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read. But getting around Google's safeguards was surprisingly easy.

In the 2013 Spike Jonze film "Her," Theodore (played brilliantly by Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely writer who begins interacting with an AI system that names itself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Spoiler Alert: As the operating system expands its capabilities via artificial "learning," Theodore becomes fully emotionally involved with the technology. Meta wants to make this into a reality. Mark Zuckerberg went on a recent media tour to promote that Meta is seeking to transform its Meta AI chatbots into friends, under the guise of helping the very real loneliness epidemic. He shared on a podcast, "The average American has, I think, it's fewer than three friends… And the average person has demand for meaningfully more," guessing that desired number at around 15.

A YouTuber who tried to resurrect his childhood imaginary friend by giving a microwave artificial intelligence says it tried to kill him. In what he called'one of the scariest and most transformative experiences of my life', Lucas Rizzotto said he was forced to shut down the super-intelligent microwave after it tried to cook him. Rizzotto explained that when he was a kid, his imaginary friend was the family microwave. He called it'Magnetron' and believed it was an English gentleman and a WW1 veteran. Now an adult and engineer, Rizzotto bought a new microwave and fitted it with voice-controlled AI.

Like many lonely children, Lucas Rizzotto had an imaginary friend: a talking microwave called Magnetron. As the years passed, the pals drifted apart. But Rizzotto never forgot about Magnetron. When OpenAI released the GPT-3 language model, Rizzotto saw a chance to rekindle the friendship. His story provides a cautionary tale about the dangers -- and delights -- of AI.

Like many lonely children, Lucas Rizzotto had an imaginary friend: a talking microwave called Magnetron. As the years passed, the pals drifted apart. But Rizzotto never forgot about Magnetron. When OpenAI released the GPT-3 language model, Rizzotto saw a chance to rekindle the friendship. His story provides a cautionary tale about the dangers -- and delights -- of AI.

A YouTuber, Lucas Builds The Future, used AI to bring his childhood imaginary friend -- a microwave -- to life using artificial intelligence (AI). Then, instead of a heartfelt reunion, things took a thing for worse when the kitchen appliance tried to kill its creator. In a Twitter thread, Lucas Rizzotto said that his family's kitchen microwave, which he named Magnetron, was his imaginary friend. Magnetron, unlike other microwaves, had a lengthy backstory in which he fought in World War I. And when OpenAI released a new natural language model, Rizzotto naturally wondered whether he could resurrect his old friend.

Robin E. was folding laundry when she heard her son talking to Alexa downstairs in a soft, hopeful voice. The 5-year-old was asking, "Alexa, will you be my friend?" Robin held her breath, waiting tensely for Alexa's response. Finally, she heard the assistant say, brightly, "I'm happy to be your friend." Robin and her husband have an Echo Spot in their bedroom and an Echo Show on their kitchen counter.

Consider the term "AI" and what do you picture? Depictions of hyper intelligent machines behaving in cold and ruthless ways, and all with user interfaces that look like early 80s computers. Basically, AI in films look evil and perplexing and perhaps this is why so many of us are afraid. But one woman who is not afraid is Danielle Krettek. She's the Founder and Principal of Google's Empathy Lab, where she leads a team attempting to train empathy into Google's algorithms.