FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Nov. 20, 2025
Contact:
Ashwin Verghese, Communications Director, [email protected], 508-263-0289
AI Toys Unsafe for Kids this Holiday Season, Advisory Warns
A first-of-its-kind advisory is warning parents not to buy AI toys for their children this holiday season. Led by the child advocacy group Fairplay, the advisory is signed by about 80 experts and 80 organizations, including Sherry Turkle, MIT Professor and author of “Alone Together”; pediatrician and researcher Dr. Jenny Radesky; paediatrician and chair of Digital Health Task Force for the Canadian Paediatric Society Dr Michelle Ponti; Social Media Victims Law Center, Young People’s Alliance, and Human Change Foundation.
“There’s lots of buzz about AI — but artificial intelligence can undermine children’s healthy development and pose unprecedented risks for kids and families,” the advisory says. “That’s why, we, the undersigned advocates and experts in child development and technology’s impact on kids, strongly advise families not to buy AI toys for children this holiday season.”
AI toys are chatbots embedded in everyday children’s toys — like plushies, dolls, action figures, and kids’ robots — that use artificial intelligence technology designed to communicate like a trusted friend and mimic human characteristics and emotions. Examples include Miko, Gabbo/Grem/Grok, Smart Teddy, Folotoy, Roybi, and Loona Robot Dog.
Top toy maker Mattel also plans to sell AI toys. AI toys are marketed to children as young as infants.
The advisory lays out five reasons to stay away from AI toys:
- AI toys are usually powered by the same AI that has already harmed children.
- AI toys prey on children’s trust.
- AI toys disrupt children’s relationships and resilience.
- AI toys invade family privacy by collecting a lot of sensitive data.
- AI toys displace key creative and learning activities.
Rachel Franz, Director of Fairplay’s Young Children Thrive Offline program, said: “Companion AI has already harmed teens. Stuffing that same technology into cute, kid-friendly toys exposes even younger children to risks beyond what we currently comprehend. It’s ridiculous that these toys are unregulated and being marketed to families with a promise of safety, learning, and friendship, promises that have no evidence behind them, while mounting evidence shows that similar technology can do real harm.
“The risk is simply too great. Children should be able to play with their toys, not be played by them. Avoiding AI toys sends a clear message: We refuse to let AI companies profit off our children.”
Sherry Turkle, MIT Professor and author of “Alone Together,” said: “In the debate about guidelines, we have to be clear: There is nothing that will make chatbot products safe for children because the threat is existential. There is only harm when a child has an AI ‘friend,’ and that’s why it’s critical that families resist purchasing these much-hyped toys for children.”
Jenny Radesky, MD, Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician and Media Researcher, said: “Young kids’ minds are like magical sponges. They are wired to attach. This makes it incredibly risky to give them an AI toy that they will see as sentient, trustworthy, and a normal part of relationships. Robots may go through the motions, but they don’t know how to truly play. Give your child more freedom of thought and imagination by focusing on books, music, open-ended toys, and human connection over the holidays.”
Gaia Bernstein, Fairplay Board member, Technology, Privacy and Policy Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law, and author of “Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technology,” said: “AI toys promise connection, but what they could deliver is isolation. AI toys, just like AI companion bots, can manipulatively lure your child away from real-life interactions with family and friends. What seems like an innocent toy can end up stunting your child’s natural development of social skills and human connections. Pediatricians are seeing increasing rates of developmental, language, and social-emotional delays in young children. AI toys have the potential to make this even worse by disrupting and displacing parent-child relationships.”
Kris Perry, Executive Director of Children and Screens, said: “Commercial AI systems were built for efficiency and scale—not for the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of young children,” said Kris Perry, Executive Director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. “When these systems are packaged as toys, children become early test subjects in an experiment no one has fully evaluated.”
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About Fairplay
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at www.fairplayforkids.org.