Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Toymaker Mattel Cancels AI Babysitter After Privacy Complaints (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the privacy-woes dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Toymaker Mattel has shelved plans to build an "all-in-one voice-controlled smart baby monitor," after complaints about the device were raised by privacy advocates and child psychologists. According to a report from The Washington Post, the company said in a statement that the device, named Aristotle, did not "fully align with Mattel's new technology strategy" and would not be "[brought] to the marketplace." Aristotle was unveiled back in January this year by Mattel's Nabi brand. It combined the smart speaker and digital assistant functionality of Amazon's Echo with a connected camera that acted as a baby monitor. But the Aristotle was intended to be a much more active presence in children's lives than an Echo speaker, with Mattel claiming it would read them bedtime stories, soothe them if they cried in the night, and even teach them their ABCs. A petition asking Mattel not to release the Aristotle gained more than 15,000 signatories.

45 comments

  1. Creepy by nwaack · · Score: 1

    This sounds like a godsend for some of those super lazy parents out there. To me it just sounds kinda creepy.

    1. Re:Creepy by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      Of course it has huge privacy concerns if they don't do the security right, but I kinda want to see what the result of this would be. If you raised your child with a digital AI assistant, what kind of behavior/social patterns would they exhibit?

    2. Re:Creepy by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      They could be clueless to non-verbal indicators. That is what makes us humans and not stupid "AI assistants". This isn't even "AI". It is just a database hooked up to a voice synthesizer. Christ. This "AI" BS needs to stop.

    3. Re:Creepy by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      I agree if you plan on just using it instead of being a dad or mom. If used right, it is just another tool in our tool chest.

    4. Re:Creepy by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      Hmm lets see, getting small children accustomed to having unwavering attention and a 'presence' that is always willing to immediate drop whatever its doing an react to them....

      Sure I see that ending well.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    5. Re: Creepy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who's tool chest exactly?
      These things offer very little to consumers. And if you have to use it responsibly then it offers even less.

  2. Too bad by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

    Maybe they can create something like this without the cloud aspect. This seemed like a pretty cool idea.

    I sometimes leave children's bedtime music on for my baby.

    1. Re:Too bad by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2

      Ya know, considering how many people complain that everything comes connected to the 'cloud' nowadays, (whether it needs it or not), you'd think someone would have started up a company that sells untethered products. Seems like there would be a market for that.

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    2. Re:Too bad by Aaden42 · · Score: 2

      There isn't much of a market though. Most people (biggest market) don't care. Somebody managed to get a "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!" cry out on this one which was enough to motivate some of the drones, but that's the exception.

    3. Re:Too bad by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      That is tough order, some of this stuff really kinda does need the cloud to do what it does.

      Yes you can do crude natural language parsing on affordable hardware these days but out a lot of storage and a huge database its hard to provide answers to generic questions. Its also hard to keep up with current information.

      I agree though there is a lot of 'gratuitously connected stuff'
      It should not require the cloud to tell my light bulbs to dim 50% or my DVR to record CBS at 6pm for 1 hour.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    4. Re:Too bad by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      I am slowly transitioning from Wink to Homeassistant. Repairing everything is a pain but I agree the cloud is overblown for this and they have had several outages lately. I have read that smartthings has the same issues.

      I'm enjoying

    5. Re:Too bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But how would they then sell the camera and microphone feed collected from the devices? Doesn't anybody think the poor Amazon's profits?!

    6. Re:Too bad by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Maybe they can hook it up to the authorities who can then prosecute those who use it too much. Every bad parenting decision would be subject to over sight, hmm, I wonder how many new parents would want to be subject to outside review for each of the actions in front of the device.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  3. Baby Darling by Thud457 · · Score: 2

    "Kill Mommy!"
    "Kill Mommy!"

    uhhh, no, it's saying "Quiero a mami"

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:Baby Darling by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

      I was thinking The Diamond Age, you're thinking The Veldt...

  4. Bummer by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Bummer. I was earning $50,000 a year in Silicon Valley working on this as my project. What am I supposed to do now for a job?

    1. Re:Bummer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      What am I supposed to do now for a job?

      Ask the prototype for help with your resume.

    2. Re:Bummer by gnick · · Score: 1

      I was earning $50,000 a year in Silicon Valley... What am I supposed to do now for a job?

      Sell the cardboard box you've been living in and move the hell out of Silicon Valley. I hear there are great opportunities leasing through Uber.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    3. Re:Bummer by zlives · · Score: 1

      nice!!

    4. Re: Bummer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do something useful for society instead, like become an uber driver?

  5. "15,000 signatories." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jesus what happened to this site? And on the 20th anniversary, no less.

  6. Whiners by fred911 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "A petition asking Mattel not to release the Aristotle gained more than 15,000 signatories."

      It's a pretty easy fix for a product you don't like or agree with, DON'T BUY IT!

      Petition, please. Some parents may WANT to expose their children to this type of technology and you don't have the right to tell them not to.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Whiners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Busybodies. We've become a nation of entitled busybodies. Even the laziest, most worthless American can find food and basic shelter, and one half a rung above them you can get a smartphone and blather self-importantly on twitter. You can literally be a functional moron and if your crackpot twitter post finds the right audience suddenly it will catch fire and people think your opinion is meaningful because 10k other morons on twitter retwittered it.

    2. Re:Whiners by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      Petition, please. Some parents may WANT to expose their children to this type of technology and you don't have the right to tell them not to.

      Conversely, though, Mattel is under no obligation to sell said technology. While I agree that it seems idiotic to kowtow to 0.004902 percent of the population, as a private corporation, Mattel has final say on what products they offer.

      Maybe it's time to create your own AI babysitter.

      Preferably with blackjack, and hookers.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    3. Re: Whiners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people want to fuck their kids and we have no right to intervene?

      WTF kinda koolaid you drinkin?

    4. Re:Whiners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >and you don't have the right to tell them not to.

      that's completely untrue. while commerce thinks itself better than people, it does not yet have the right to censor or otherwise block people from giving it feedback. conclusion: you're from a truly fucked up future. please go away and let your sexbot do you over the way your inanimate tablet taught you.

      other than that, there's nothing wrong with the thing messing up kids brains, i'm sure. all the studies on personality and brain development must have been sponsored by russians or something just to keep our kids and their kids disadvantaged by having them retain a sense of themselves and their humanity.

    5. Re:Whiners by fred911 · · Score: 1

      "Preferably with blackjack, and hookers."

        And what, forget about the blow?

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    6. Re:Whiners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l3ipKcnYlQ

    7. Re:Whiners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some parents may WANT to expose their children to this type of technology and you don't have the right to tell them not to.

      Yes we do, for the same reason we want other people to vaccinate their kids.

  7. Mattel: "Whoops, we got caught!" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

    Mattel: "Better not release it this year. Let's wait for next year and see if we can sneak it in."

    1. Re:Mattel: "Whoops, we got caught!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazon and Google (and to a smaller extent Apple) are already doing it... they're already in many houses around the country... it's pretty obvious the kids will use it... and not just for ordering 2000 lb of creamed corn.

      In fact, pretty soon, the hardware/speaker part is going to be ubiquitous, the API it connects to will be the thing... and Mattel doesn't seem like a viable API competitor to Amazon/Google/Apple. (they may make the hardware, integrated with baby monitor, but that's not where the interesting (and perhaps creepy?) stuff is happening).

    2. Re:Mattel: "Whoops, we got caught!" by RightSaidFred99 · · Score: 2

      Go caught what, thinking of a completely legitimate product that can succeed or fail in the marketplace on its own merits? Yeah, that damn Mattel!

      Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook know literally everything about me but that AI enabled smartcam is just a step too far! Think of the children!!! Well, someone else's children!!!

    3. Re:Mattel: "Whoops, we got caught!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Put your glasses on so you can see past the end of your own nose.

    4. Re:Mattel: "Whoops, we got caught!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you don't mind Mattel or Google or Amazon whoring your childrens' very personal and private data out to marketers and whoever else, and maybe influencing them to become Good Little Consumers along the way? My, what a good parent you are, not even giving a shit who is spying on your kids or influencing them! PARENT OF THE YEAR!!!

    5. Re:Mattel: "Whoops, we got caught!" by Mal-2 · · Score: 1

      Mattel doesn't actually build its own electronics, they farm everything out. This isn't unusual, but back when they had a separate Mattel Electronics division, they often rebadged products they hadn't even had a hand in creating. The Aquarius would be an example. If that was the case this time around, then they may have merely decided to cancel the contract, and you'll still see the product as soon as the manufacturer can get someone else to market it.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  8. Luddites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whats wrong with using technology to improve child rearing. We are not animals, we invent and use tools. This isn't a substitute for parental interaction, but it may be useful to some people in some situations. Not everyone has a perfect life where they can monitor a child 24/7 in their bedroom. If you are forced to be a single parent are you supposed to not have a job and live in your kids bedroom ? Hiring a babysitter for 10 hours a day is not an option. Neither is living without sleep.

  9. Yay! Luddites win! by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

    How 'bout we let the parents think of the children instead of doing it for them?

  10. Re: Tittyfucker by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Who's tool chest exactly?

    Nobody is.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. Re: Tittyfucker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No... Who's on first and Nobody's on second

  12. Re: Tittyfucker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not "who is" you fool. Possessive.
    Grammar you suck at.

    Me write like you understand no?

  13. Dear Sir or Madam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The word you were looking for is, "whose".

    1. Re:Dear Sir or Madam by TheConway · · Score: 1

      "who's" works in the sentence he used it in. Context, Sir.

    2. Re:Dear Sir or Madam by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It does? So tell us what it means, then. Write it out in full, no contractions - and no adding other words.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  14. Diamond Age by killfixx · · Score: 2

    This certainly felt like the early form of A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

    Not that I want any corporation to be responsible for teaching my children, but having a private, custom version without relying on someone else's eyes; I'll take it.

    --
    "Helping to keep you two steps ahead of the Thought Police!"