Mattel's New Baby Monitor Uses AI To Soothe Babies and Lawmakers Aren't Happy About It (washingtonpost.com)

Mattel has a new kid-focused smart hub called Aristotle, which can switch on a night light if it hears a baby crying to soothe the child (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source). The device is also designed to keep changing its activities, even to the point where it can help a preteen with homework, learning about the child along the way. Given the privacy concerns, lawmakers are worried that the always-on device could build an "in-depth profile of children and their family." Jezebel reports: The $299 Aristotle is similar in spirit to the Amazon Echo, only the scope of its features is much broader -- and scarier. Last week, Senator Ed Markey and Representative Joe Barton sent a letter to Mattel CEO Margaret Giorgiadis about their issues with the tablet, which tracks things like kids' eating and sleeping habits when they're young, and adapts to answering their questions about long division and sex or whatever as they grow up. According to nabi, the Mattel brand that developed the device, the Aristotle is meant to "provide parents with a platform that simplifies parenting, while helping them nurture, teach, and protect their young ones." Not everyone is on board. But Markey and Barton aren't the only ones squicked by Aristotle's capabilities. Buzzfeed reports that privacy experts, parents and child psychologists are also concerned that the device "encourages babies to form bonds with inanimate objects and use information it collects for targeted advertising," so much so that a petition has been launched to prevent it from going to market.

Comments

Funny

[DontBeAMoran]

When it's targeted at kids, people freak out.
When it's targeted at adults, people buy the damn things.

Re:Funny

[Baron_Yam]

>I don't have a policy proposal here, or an opinion about what should or should not be done, but I do understand the concern.

If you're not willing to put in 20 years of effort to properly raise a child, try out 'birth control' or stick to masturbation.

Children are wonderful and all, but they're also a huge responsibility if you're a decent human. Deliberately having a child (or simply not worrying about pregnancy when birth control is more or less ubiquitous) and then abdicating your parenting responsibilities to technology is not the right choice.

And yes, I'm a parent, and yes, I know EXACTLY how difficult a standard that is to meet, and no, I don't actually meet it 100% of the time.

Diamond age

[Anonymous Coward]

Young lady's illustraded primer

This is what people want!

[Dripdry]

Have you ever interacted with a parent? Most of the ones I know are exhausted half the time. Happy, but exhausted.
They're also incredibly concerned about what quality of education their kid is getting.
I haven't used one, but Aristotle honestly seems like the kind of thing that parents could learn to adore. The outcry over this is stupid: We need better education for kids with parents who aren't ever around because both (or one) parent works.
People ALREADY form bonds with inanimate objects, like stuffed animals as kids! Forming a bond with something that teaches and talks back doesn't seem like the unhealthiest thing ever.
Sigh. When it's about something useful like education (Aristotle), we freak out. When it's about convenience and marketing (Echo) then oh yeah that's ok!
Also, the government stepping in to regulate a product like this is alarming.

Re:This is what people want!

[Opportunist]

I doubt anyone minds the educational angle, what people are worried about is the marketing angle.