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"Hello Barbie" Listens To Children Via Cloud
jones_supa writes For a long time we have had toys that talk back to their owners, but a new "smart" Barbie doll's eavesdropping and data-gathering functions have privacy advocates crying foul. Toymaker Mattel bills Hello Barbie as the world's first "interactive doll" due to its ability to record children's playtime conversations and respond to them, once the audio is transmitted over WiFi to a cloud server. In a demo video, a Mattel presenter at the 2015 Toy Fair in New York says the new doll fulfills the top request that Mattel receives from girls: to have a two-way dialogue. "They want to have a conversation with Barbie," she said, adding that the new toy will be "the very first fashion doll that has continuous learning, so that she can have a unique relationship with each girl." Susan Linn, the executive director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, has written a statement in which she says how the product is seriously creepy and creates a host of dangers for children and families. She asks people to join her in a petition under the proposal of Mattel discontinuing the toy.
...be a book or a doll? In an age where Internet is thick on the ground, no contest.
So, will a weak-AI owned by a for-profit company inspire little girls to have this conversation:
"Mom! The Raspberry Pi 2 is out! It's got four ARM7 cores! My 3D printer would print a pair of ruby slippers in under an HOUR! Please!"
or this one?
"Mom! If I want to be a size zero, I need Kellog's Brand Nutrigrain Bars!"
Lisa [playing with Malibu Stacy]: A hush falls over the general assembly as Stacy approaches the podium to deliver what will no doubt be a stirring and memorable address. [pulls Stacy's cord]
Malibu Stacy: I wish they taught shopping in school!
Lisa: [groans, pulls Stacy's cord again]
Malibu Stacy: Let's bake some cookies for the boys!
Lisa: Come on, Stacy. I've waited my whole life to hear you speak. Don't you have anything relevant to say? [pulls cord]
Malibu Stacy: Don't ask me, I'm just a girl. [giggles]
Bart: Right on! Say it, sister.
Lisa: It's not funny, Bart. Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the right way to act....that they can never be more than vacuous ninnies whose only goal is to look pretty, land a rich husband, and spend all day on the phone with their equally vacuous friends talking about how damn terrific it is to look pretty and HAVE A RICH HUSBAND!!!!
Bart: Just what I was going to say.
I remember when my daughter was about 2.5-4 commercials were unbelievable effective. Even those commercials that targeted the mother watching with the kid had an impact and my daughter would often get upset we didn't have the right products. I'd love to just see a ban on advertising for kids under 10, and public financing.
Any predictions for how many days it takes for this to get hacked and we have Talky Tina epidemic?
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
Waaahh you guys are so paranoid, this is just Siri in a more child friendly package.
How come it's creepy with Barbie but not with siri, google, smart tvs, xbox kinect, or the myriad of other things that constantly monitor us when we think we are alone?
"American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration."
Bzzt. Just goes to show you know nothing about nothing. Now please STFU the smart people are talking.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
From the story summary calling it creepy, to just about every initial response being negative, I cannot help but shed a tear for the love of technology that used to permeate these hallowed (now hollow) halls.
Having a doll that can talk back to you, that can intelligently respond to what you are asking and learn what you want to talk about is not creepy. That is actually really interesting. It could be really cool.
Is there potential for abuse? Sure. Would it be nice to have a clear off switch so it doesn't pick up things it shouldn't? Sure. But that doesn't make it a bad idea, or mean we should kill the baby in the cradle, and see how it actually turns out.
Can the rabid un-thining pitchfork-wielding crazed mobs that roam Slashdot now please take a step back and think about the future at least once?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. 4chan kickstarter successfully orders 128 hello barbies, a raspberry pi, and some old karaoke speakers. ISIS, NAZI, and Boko Haram propaganda are then looped through mplayer. blood curdling screams and pornographic soundtracks liven up the data collection.
2. 4chan kickstarter successfully purchases 16 hello barbies, straps them to the undercarriage of random long haul tractor trailers at undisclosed truck stops.
3. original plans failing, 256 Hello Barbies are purchased, locked in a closet, the question "Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like? " is asked. the barbies answer eachother for eternity.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Who really can provide all the time that that a little girl requires. Now the problem is solved. The electric Barbie will be her friend and confident, and guide her through the mysteries of life. Parents can continue to watch TV safe in the knowledge that their children are safe. I presume that interactive destructor robots are not far off so little boys will not be left behind.
The will all grow up to be good, politically correct individuals. As the software becomes more intelligent, it will appeal to older and older children. No need to deal with real friends who need to be cared for, listened to, and can be nasty. Barbie is always nice. Always listens, is always concerned about you. And all that personality data can be sold to other companies to help guide their entire life. Buttons sewn when she is 3, pressed when she is 30, how wonderful.
Computers are getting smarter. This toy may be a bit of a joke, but the next version will be better. And they will be coming cheaply from China, with software driven by Google.
When Computers Can Think
Anthony
They want to have a conversation with Barbie
It's official, folks. Childhood imagination is now officially dead.
Price, Quality, Time. Pick none. What, you thought you had a choice?
Men are told they're not caring enough to be kindergarten teachers or nurses, and that only gay men become airline stewards, theater actors or dancers. Men are also told all the time that they're not intelligent, strong or enduring enough or have too much potential to do what they want and they should instead do what somewhat else thinks is best for them. If you, man or woman, want to do what you want, you have to do make it happen. Other people serve their own interests, not yours. That's not sexism, that's just the way the world works.
Men are told they can't get into child care, ok not because they, stupid but because they are not capable of controlling themselves.
Ever heard the sayings:
Men can't multitask?
Men don't ask for directions?
what about this article that described how women better at certain tasks:
http://www.livescience.com/470...
or this one https://www.americanexpress.co...
I have never thought women where less smart than men, in fact I was of the opinion that the where smarter.
Men are often portrayed in media as beer swilling, sex crazed, idiots that can't be pried away from watching sports.
To reference the Simpsons, which was mentioned in the last thread, rank the family in order of intelligence.
My guess would be:
Lisa, Marge, Maggie, Bart, Homer.
This is marked funny, but think about it for a minute. Our computers, phones, tablets -- even watches -- are collecting way more information than this Barbie is and yet how many people think these ubiquitous machines are creepy? Not many. The lesson here might be this: the shape of the surveillance device doesn't make it creepy -- what it collects is what makes it creepy. Oddly though, very few people are creeped out by their own phone.
Two conclusions based on "shape irrelevant":
1) Barbie, phones, computers etc. etc. have become extremely creepy surveillance devices (this is where I am, which is depressing, because I've loved technology for so long).
2) Barbie, phones, computers etc. etc. are surveillance devices and surveillance is totally not creepy -- just don't care.
To mix and match 1 & 2 though, making barbie creepy and siri not, is inconsistent and illogical.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Gender stereotypes work both ways.
Other news exclusively for misogynists and misandrists at 11.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
but a good estimate is that they're B cup or smaller.
Only if you assume she's extraordinarily tall and anorexic. On average, she's got 3.5" waste and a 5" bust. At 11.5" tall, that's pretty top-heavy! Now, this is after the much-publicized downsizing her upper-body received sometime during the age of Netscape. Let's be honest about this.
But we're just picking on a popular example. Mattel has a number of dolls that make Barbie look positively wholesome, even through the eyes of the hairiest radical feminist your imagination can conjure.
How, pray tell, would you show those things in a doll? Do you think microscope-toting Barbie would sell well?
Why wouldn't it? Do girls have some aversion to microscopes? Now that you mention it, a barbie themed microscope wouldn't be a bad idea. There are a number of companies already that sell microscopes and telescopes designed to appeal to girls. You'll have a hard time, unfortunately, finding them at the local brick-and-mortar.
That you would even ask such a question is troubling. The very idea that enough girls would want anything to do with microscopes for such a toy to be economically viable seems impossible for you to imagine. That's the entire problem. We have this odd cultural belief that things like microscopes are for boys and that any girl interested in things like microscopes is deviant (or going through a phase or whatever).
Kids are sensitive to that. Imagine taking a girl to a toy store and seeing here develop interest in a display microscope. What will she do when she finds that the only microscopes for sale are marketed toward boys, with no 'gender-neutral' or 'for girls' options? (Note: This is the most plausible scenario.) What message do you think that sends to her? How does that change her understanding of how microscopes and other scientific equipment relate to gender? Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing for girls? Society in general?
Required reading for internet skeptics
This is marked funny, but think about it for a minute. Our computers, phones, tablets -- even watches -- are collecting way more information than this Barbie is and yet how many people think these ubiquitous machines are creepy? Not many. The lesson here might be this: the shape of the surveillance device doesn't make it creepy -- what it collects is what makes it creepy. Oddly though, very few people are creeped out by their own phone.
Two conclusions based on "shape irrelevant":
1) Barbie, phones, computers etc. etc. have become extremely creepy surveillance devices (this is where I am, which is depressing, because I've loved technology for so long).
2) Barbie, phones, computers etc. etc. are surveillance devices and surveillance is totally not creepy -- just don't care.
To mix and match 1 & 2 though, making barbie creepy and siri not, is inconsistent and illogical.
a good childhood is about innocence, fun, and the world being in general a good place.
Big Brother is there to help with that.