Latest news with #Notice
Daily Record
10 hours ago
- Daily Record
CCTV released after man on Glasgow train assaulted and robbed
CCTV footage has been released after a man on Glasgow train assaulted and robbed. An image of a man wearing a blue and yellow Boca Juniors top on a ScotRail train has been published as the British Transport Police wish to speak to the person in connection with an assault. The incident took place on board a train between Glasgow Queen Street and Balloch near Clydebank at around 9pm on April 30 when a man was assaulted by another man who stole his backpack and fled the train at Clydebank. The person cops wish to speak to is described as white, aged in his late 30s or early 40s, around 5ft11, with medium brown hair. He was wearing grey jogging bottoms and a blue football top. Officers would urge the male or any members of the public who recognise him to contact police. Anyone with information is urged to contact British Transport Police by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 with the reference 745 of 30 April 2025. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be passed anonymously. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. A spokesperson for the British Transport Police previously said: "Detectives are appealing for witnesses to come forward after a man was assaulted on board a train from Glasgow to Balloch. "At around 9pm on Wednesday 30 April, a man was travelling on a train from Glasgow Queen Street to Balloch when he got into an altercation with another man. "The other man assaulted him, taking his rucksack, before leaving the train at Clydebank." Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information regarding the incident is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 745 of 30 April.
Vox
11 hours ago
- Vox
AI doesn't have to reason to take your job
is a senior writer at Future Perfect, Vox's effective altruism-inspired section on the world's biggest challenges. She explores wide-ranging topics like climate change, artificial intelligence, vaccine development, and factory farms, and also writes the Future Perfect newsletter. A humanoid robot shakes hands with a visitor at the Zhiyuan Robotics stand at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China, on June 18, 2025, during the first day of the Mobile World Conference. Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images In 2023, one popular perspective on AI went like this: Sure, it can generate lots of impressive text, but it can't truly reason — it's all shallow mimicry, just 'stochastic parrots' squawking. At the time, it was easy to see where this perspective was coming from. Artificial intelligence had moments of being impressive and interesting, but it also consistently failed basic tasks. Tech CEOs said they could just keep making the models bigger and better, but tech CEOs say things like that all the time, including when, behind the scenes, everything is held together with glue, duct tape, and low-wage workers. It's now 2025. I still hear this dismissive perspective a lot, particularly when I'm talking to academics in linguistics and philosophy. Many of the highest profile efforts to pop the AI bubble — like the recent Apple paper purporting to find that AIs can't truly reason — linger on the claim that the models are just bullshit generators that are not getting much better and won't get much better. Future Perfect Explore the big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. Sent twice a week. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. But I increasingly think that repeating those claims is doing our readers a disservice, and that the academic world is failing to step up and grapple with AI's most important implications. I know that's a bold claim. So let me back it up. 'The illusion of thinking's' illusion of relevance The instant the Apple paper was posted online (it hasn't yet been peer reviewed), it took off. Videos explaining it racked up millions of views. People who may not generally read much about AI heard about the Apple paper. And while the paper itself acknowledged that AI performance on 'moderate difficulty' tasks was improving, many summaries of its takeaways focused on the headline claim of 'a fundamental scaling limitation in the thinking capabilities of current reasoning models.' For much of the audience, the paper confirmed something they badly wanted to believe: that generative AI doesn't really work — and that's something that won't change any time soon. The paper looks at the performance of modern, top-tier language models on 'reasoning tasks' — basically, complicated puzzles. Past a certain point, that performance becomes terrible, which the authors say demonstrates the models haven't developed true planning and problem-solving skills. 'These models fail to develop generalizable problem-solving capabilities for planning tasks, with performance collapsing to zero beyond a certain complexity threshold,' as the authors write. That was the topline conclusion many people took from the paper and the wider discussion around it. But if you dig into the details, you'll see that this finding is not surprising, and it doesn't actually say that much about AI. Much of the reason why the models fail at the given problem in the paper is not because they can't solve it, but because they can't express their answers in the specific format the authors chose to require. If you ask them to write a program that outputs the correct answer, they do so effortlessly. By contrast, if you ask them to provide the answer in text, line by line, they eventually reach their limits. That seems like an interesting limitation to current AI models, but it doesn't have a lot to do with 'generalizable problem-solving capabilities' or 'planning tasks.' Imagine someone arguing that humans can't 'really' do 'generalizable' multiplication because while we can calculate 2-digit multiplication problems with no problem, most of us will screw up somewhere along the way if we're trying to do 10-digit multiplication problems in our heads. The issue isn't that we 'aren't general reasoners.' It's that we're not evolved to juggle large numbers in our heads, largely because we never needed to do so. If the reason we care about 'whether AIs reason' is fundamentally philosophical, then exploring at what point problems get too long for them to solve is relevant, as a philosophical argument. But I think that most people care about what AI can and cannot do for far more practical reasons. AI is taking your job, whether it can 'truly reason' or not I fully expect my job to be automated in the next few years. I don't want that to happen, obviously. But I can see the writing on the wall. I regularly ask the AIs to write this newsletter — just to see where the competition is at. It's not there yet, but it's getting better all the time. Employers are doing that too. Entry-level hiring in professions like law, where entry-level tasks are AI-automatable, appears to be already contracting. The job market for recent college graduates looks ugly. The optimistic case around what's happening goes something like this: 'Sure, AI will eliminate a lot of jobs, but it'll create even more new jobs.' That more positive transition might well happen — though I don't want to count on it — but it would still mean a lot of people abruptly finding all of their skills and training suddenly useless, and therefore needing to rapidly develop a completely new skill set. It's this possibility, I think, that looms large for many people in industries like mine, which are already seeing AI replacements creep in. It's precisely because this prospect is so scary that declarations that AIs are just 'stochastic parrots' that can't really think are so appealing. We want to hear that our jobs are safe and the AIs are a nothingburger. But in fact, you can't answer the question of whether AI will take your job with reference to a thought experiment, or with reference to how it performs when asked to write down all the steps of Tower of Hanoi puzzles. The way to answer the question of whether AI will take your job is to invite it to try. And, uh, here's what I got when I asked ChatGPT to write this section of this newsletter: Is it 'truly reasoning'? Maybe not. But it doesn't need to be to render me potentially unemployable. 'Whether or not they are simulating thinking has no bearing on whether or not the machines are capable of rearranging the world for better or worse,' Cambridge professor of AI philosophy and governance Harry Law argued in a recent piece, and I think he's unambiguously right. If Vox hands me a pink slip, I don't think I'll get anywhere if I argue that I shouldn't be replaced because o3, above, can't solve a sufficiently complicated Towers of Hanoi puzzle — which, guess what, I can't do either. Critics are making themselves irrelevant when we need them most In his piece, Law surveys the state of AI criticisms and finds it fairly grim. 'Lots of recent critical writing about AI…read like extremely wishful thinking about what exactly systems can and cannot do.' This is my experience, too. Critics are often trapped in 2023, giving accounts of what AI can and cannot do that haven't been correct for two years. 'Many [academics] dislike AI, so they don't follow it closely,' Law argues. 'They don't follow it closely so they still think that the criticisms of 2023 hold water. They don't. And that's regrettable because academics have important contributions to make.' But of course, for the employment effects of AI — and in the longer run, for the global catastrophic risk concerns they may present — what matters isn't whether AIs can be induced to make silly mistakes, but what they can do when set up for success. I have my own list of 'easy' problems AIs still can't solve — they're pretty bad at chess puzzles — but I don't think that kind of work should be sold to the public as a glimpse of the 'real truth' about AI. And it definitely doesn't debunk the really quite scary future that experts increasingly believe we're headed toward.
Time Business News
a day ago
- Business
- Time Business News
Captured by the Colour: Five Fugitives Caught Through INTERPOL Red Notices
VANCOUVER – When a person becomes the target of an INTERPOL Red Notice, their name, photo, and alleged crimes circulate across 194 countries in seconds. Though not an arrest warrant, the Red Notice remains one of the most potent tools in international law enforcement. It can prevent travel, freeze bank accounts, alert border authorities, and in many cases, lead to arrest and extradition. Despite criticisms of political abuse and human rights violations, Red Notices have also been instrumental in tracking and capturing high-profile fugitives, including white-collar criminals, corrupt officials, terrorists, and alleged war criminals. In this press release, Amicus International Consulting explores five real-world cases where Red Notices were effectively used to capture fugitives—and how these examples expose both the strengths and vulnerabilities of the system. What Is a Red Notice and Why Does It Matter Issued at the request of a member country, a Red Notice is a request circulated by INTERPOL to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted individual pending extradition. It is not a binding international warrant, but many countries treat it as sufficient grounds for arrest, primarily if a bilateral or multilateral extradition treaty exists. While INTERPOL itself has no enforcement power, the visibility and reach of a Red Notice create serious consequences, including: Detention during international travel Asset freezing by global banks Immigration issues and residency denials Loss of access to global business or employment Red Notices can result in immediate arrest or prolonged detention, even before a formal trial has commenced. Case Study 1: Jho Low – The 1MDB Scandal Architect Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, known globally as Jho Low, is perhaps one of the most infamous economic fugitives of the last decade. He is the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB financial scandal, in which over $4.5 billion was embezzled from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund and laundered through global banks, real estate deals, and high-profile parties. Malaysia and Singapore both issued warrants for his arrest in 2016. INTERPOL subsequently circulated a Red Notice. Low evaded capture for years, reportedly living in China, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. Despite the Red Notice, his exact whereabouts remain unknown, raising questions about the limitations of the system when political interests override cooperation and transparency. However, the Red Notice had real effects: Banks closed accounts linked to him or his shell companies. His travel options narrowed significantly. Diplomatic efforts escalated between Malaysia and foreign governments. Though not yet captured, Jho Low's Red Notice played a crucial role in limiting his financial and physical mobility. Case Study 2: Félicien Kabuga – Rwandan Genocide Financier In one of INTERPOL's longest-running manhunts, Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan businessman accused of financing and inciting genocide, was captured in 2020 in a suburb of Paris after 26 years on the run. Kabuga allegedly used his fortune to fund the Hutu militias that massacred over 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in 1994. A Red Notice was issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), later continued under the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. What worked in this case? Decades of intelligence sharing between European states. Use of biometric data to match Kabuga's aliases. Surveillance of family members led investigators to his location. His arrest and extradition to The Hague marked a significant victory for international justice, and INTERPOL's Red Notice played a crucial role in maintaining global pressure and ensuring data visibility. Case Study 3: Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen – An Abduction Gone International In a rare case blending Red Notices with domestic mystery, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, the wife of one of Norway's wealthiest men, disappeared in 2018. What initially appeared to be a kidnapping for ransom eventually evolved into a murder investigation with international implications. When suspicions fell on people outside of Norway, INTERPOL issued Red Notices to track down foreign accomplices. Multiple Red Notices were reportedly circulated across Europe, including countries where crypto wallets connected to the ransom demands had been accessed. Although the case remains partially unresolved, INTERPOL's involvement helped uncover complex cross-border digital transactions and track suspects through international cooperation, which only Red Notices could facilitate. Case Study 4: Carlos Ghosn – From Extradition to Escape While not a capture, the story of Carlos Ghosn, former chairman of Nissan and Renault, underscores the power—and the limits—of a Red Notice. After his arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct, Ghosn fled to Lebanon in a dramatic escape concealed inside an audio equipment box. INTERPOL issued a Red Notice at Japan's request. However, Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan, and does not extradite its citizens (Ghosn holds Lebanese citizenship). Although Ghosn was never recaptured, the Red Notice: Severely restricted his ability to travel. Forced him to remain in Lebanon indefinitely. Created a diplomatic rift between Tokyo and Beirut. This case shows that even when a Red Notice cannot lead to arrest, it can confine a fugitive within political or geographic boundaries for years. Case Study 5: Luka Bojić – Serbian Crime Boss Captured in Greece In 2021, INTERPOL issued a Red Notice for Luka Bojić, a high-ranking figure in the Balkan drug cartel responsible for smuggling cocaine across Europe. Greek authorities detained Bojić in Thessaloniki after the Red Notice triggered a routine passport database scan at the airport. He was held for over a year as Serbia filed an extradition request, ultimately leading to his transfer back for trial. This case illustrates the effectiveness of Red Notices when coordinated with border enforcement systems and regional judicial cooperation. Red Notice Success Rate and Impact According to INTERPOL, more than 10,000 Red Notices are issued annually. While most never make headlines, they contribute to thousands of arrests globally, particularly in regions where border controls and digital systems are linked to INTERPOL databases. Red Notices have successfully aided in: Combating human trafficking and child exploitation rings Apprehending white-collar criminals in tax havens Tracking fugitives involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity Capturing terrorism suspects on global watchlists However, Red Notices are only as strong as the political and judicial cooperation behind them. Countries that choose not to honour extradition requests can render notices symbolic. Furthermore, politically motivated notices can erode trust in the system and hinder genuine enforcement. Amicus Commentary: Legal Tools with Geopolitical Consequences 'INTERPOL Red Notices function at the intersection of law and diplomacy,' said a spokesperson for Amicus International Consulting. 'They can be powerful instruments of justice or subtle weapons of repression.' Amicus assists individuals facing unjust Red Notices and supports governments and organizations with compliance, defence strategies, and cross-border legal coordination. Whether used to track real fugitives or as political instruments, Red Notices require meticulous legal interpretation and proactive strategy. Legal Analysis: When Red Notices Work—and When They Don't Success often depends on: Strength of local extradition law Political neutrality of the originating charges Diplomatic cooperation between NCBs (National Central Bureaus) Biometric and travel database integration Existence of a valid arrest warrant in the issuing country When these conditions align, capture and extradition can proceed smoothly. When they don't, the Red Notice may linger in digital limbo—visible, intimidating, but legally inert. Red Notices in the Private Sector: Beyond Law Enforcement Private sector entities—especially banks, airlines, and visa-processing agencies—use Red Notices as compliance triggers. A published or even internal Red Notice can result in: KYC/AML flagging by financial institutions Corporate travel bans Rejection of immigration or asylum applications Reputational damage in mergers and acquisitions Amicus advises companies with global mobility teams, compliance departments, and risk officers on how to navigate employee or client issues related to INTERPOL notices. Red Notice Deletion and Defence: The Legal Lifeline When a Red Notice is believed to be politically motivated or erroneous, individuals may petition INTERPOL's Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files (CCF). Amicus has successfully assisted dozens of clients in navigating this complex and legally opaque process. The CCF will consider appeals based on: Lack of due process in the home country Political, religious, or ethnic targeting Evidence of asylum or protected status Conflict with existing international protections The appeal process may take 6 to 12 months, during which individuals remain at risk of arrest unless precautionary measures are taken—a core service Amicus provides. The Road Ahead: Reform, Transparency, and Technological Checks As INTERPOL modernizes its Red Notice protocols, reform advocates call for: Greater transparency on notice issuance and removals Stronger pre-publication review of politically sensitive cases of politically sensitive cases Real-time integration with refugee databases Mandatory legal oversight by host countries before arrest These steps are crucial to ensure that Red Notices maintain their legitimacy as instruments of justice, not instruments of geopolitical coercion. 📞 Contact Information Phone: +1 (604) 200-5402 Email: info@ Website: Follow Us: 🔗 LinkedIn 🔗 Twitter/X 🔗 Facebook 🔗 Instagram TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Time Business News
a day ago
- Politics
- Time Business News
Behind the Notice: The Legal Mechanics of an INTERPOL Red Flag
VANCOUVER – The words 'Red Notice' may evoke images of global manhunts and flashing border alerts, but few understand the intricate legal machinery behind one of INTERPOL's most misunderstood tools. Red Notices are not international arrest warrants, yet they can lead to arrest, detention, passport cancellation, and asset freezes across 194 countries. In this in-depth briefing, Amicus International Consulting examines the legal architecture of a Red Notice—from its origin and transmission to its enforcement and appeal. As INTERPOL's role in global justice expands, understanding the mechanics behind a Red Notice has become vital for lawyers, travellers, diplomats, and at-risk individuals. What Is a Red Notice—And What It Isn't Issued by INTERPOL upon the request of a member state, a Red Notice is a formal request to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is not a binding arrest warrant. Despite its non-binding nature, many countries treat Red Notices as actionable arrest requests, primarily when no additional legal hurdles exist. This creates a gray area where a bureaucratic alert can suddenly become a de facto international warrant. Legal Foundation: Article 82 of INTERPOL's Rules The legal authority for a Red Notice comes from INTERPOL's Constitution and its Rules on the Processing of Data. Specifically, Article 82 outlines the conditions under which a Red Notice may be issued: A valid arrest warrant or court decision must exist in the requesting country. The alleged crime must be extraditable under national laws. under national laws. The request must respect human rights standards, avoiding political, military, racial, or religious bias. Case Study 1: Political Abuse of Red Notices—The Case of Mukhtar Ablyazov Kazakh opposition leader Mukhtar Ablyazov has faced multiple Red Notices from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine—countries where he claims political persecution. Despite this, INTERPOL initially issued Red Notices based on allegations of fraud. Following a complaint and media pressure, the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files (CCF) deleted the notices, citing political motivation. This case illustrates how Red Notices can be misused to harass political opponents, despite INTERPOL's neutrality clauses. Filing the Notice: How It Begins A Red Notice request typically starts in the National Central Bureau (NCB) of the requesting country. Each INTERPOL member maintains a National Central Bureau (NCB), which serves as a liaison between national law enforcement and INTERPOL's General Secretariat in Lyon, France. The NCB submits the request electronically, attaching: A copy of the national arrest warrant . . A description of the charges and legal classification. Identity documentation (passport scan, biometrics, photos). Summary of facts, often with limited evidence. INTERPOL's legal team then reviews the request for compliance, assessing whether it violates any neutrality or human rights conditions. If cleared, the Red Notice is published to the secure I-24/7 system, which is used by law enforcement globally. Enforcement: Why Some Red Notices Lead to Arrest—and Others Don't Not all countries treat Red Notices equally. Their legal force depends entirely on local law: Automatic enforcement : Countries like the UAE, Egypt, and some Latin American nations arrest Red Notice subjects with minimal legal scrutiny. : Countries like the UAE, Egypt, and some Latin American nations arrest Red Notice subjects with minimal legal scrutiny. Judicial review : Western democracies, such as Canada, the UK, and Germany, require court review before any arrest is made. : Western democracies, such as Canada, the UK, and Germany, require court review before any arrest is made. Non-enforcement: Some states, including Switzerland and Ecuador, actively refuse to enforce Red Notices deemed political or abusive. This variability can dramatically alter the risk profile for a wanted individual depending on their location or travel route. Case Study 2: Amicus Client Avoids Arrest by Challenging Red Notice Preemptively In 2024, Amicus International Consulting was retained by a South Asian entrepreneur who had been falsely accused of corruption by a rival political faction. Before the Red Notice was issued, Amicus submitted a preventive appeal to the CCF, arguing that the charges were politically motivated. The CCF intervened, and INTERPOL blocked the request from circulation. The client's international movement and assets remained unaffected—demonstrating the importance of proactive legal defense strategies. Red Notice Implications: Travel, Banking, and Reputation Once published, a Red Notice can trigger: Arrest at border crossings or airports , even in transit. , even in transit. Visa cancellations or denials , particularly for U.S., Schengen, and Commonwealth countries. , particularly for U.S., Schengen, and Commonwealth countries. Freezing of assets or accounts by banks monitoring politically exposed persons (PEPs). by banks monitoring politically exposed persons (PEPs). Revocation of residence permits or expulsion in host countries. in host countries. Negative impact on business deals, especially where background checks are routine. Even if never enforced, a Red Notice can inflict immense reputational and economic harm. Appeals and Deletion: Role of the Commission for the Control of Files (CCF) The only route to appeal a Red Notice is through INTERPOL's CCF, an independent oversight body based in Lyon. Individuals can challenge Red Notices if they believe the charges are: Politically motivated. Unsubstantiated. Result of unfair trials. Related to conduct protected by human rights laws. Amicus regularly represents clients before the CCF, presenting documentary evidence, media coverage, asylum filings, and judicial rulings that support deletion. However, CCF reviews can take six months to a year, and INTERPOL does not suspend notices during the review unless an urgent risk is proven. Case Study 3: Journalist Wins Appeal After Detention in Europe In 2023, a Middle Eastern journalist was arrested upon arrival in Spain due to a Red Notice issued by her home country. She had previously received political asylum in France. Amicus acted swiftly to engage legal counsel in Madrid and file an emergency request with INTERPOL. The CCF ruled in the journalist's favor, deleted the Red Notice, and issued a rare public statement citing the case as a violation of Article 3 (political neutrality). INTERPOL's Internal Vetting: Limitations and Controversies While INTERPOL does conduct internal vetting before publication, its resources are stretched, and decisions are often based solely on the submitting country's summary. Critics argue this opens the system to: Fraudulent submissions. Conflicts of interest from authoritarian states. Retaliatory charges filed against dissidents abroad. As the organization lacks investigatory powers, it must rely on member states to verify the legitimacy of the claims. This creates a significant risk of abuse, particularly by states with poor judicial transparency. Current Calls for Reform As misuse of Red Notices becomes more visible, international pressure is mounting to reform the system. Recommendations include: Mandatory public disclosure of all Red Notices. of all Red Notices. Stronger evidence requirements during submission. during submission. Faster CCF timelines for urgent political or refugee-related cases. for urgent political or refugee-related cases. Exclusion of repeat abusers from filing Red Notices without special review. Legal experts and advocacy groups argue that transparency and accountability must evolve to keep pace with the system's growing impact on lives and liberties. Amicus Guidance: Navigating the Red Notice Landscape Amicus International Consulting offers legal advisory services to individuals and attorneys facing Red Notice challenges. Our services include: Early warning systems through international monitoring. through international monitoring. Preemptive defences against anticipated notices. against anticipated notices. CCF appeal drafting and evidence coordination. Travel route mapping to avoid high-risk jurisdictions. to avoid high-risk jurisdictions. Extradition strategy consultation and litigation support. 'Behind every Red Notice is a legal opportunity—to challenge, expose, and overcome,' said an Amicus spokesperson. 'But the key is knowing the rules before the alarm goes off.' 📞 Contact Information Phone: +1 (604) 200-5402 Email: info@ Website: Follow Us: 🔗 LinkedIn 🔗 Twitter/X 🔗 Facebook 🔗 Instagram TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Vox
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Vox
What we learned the last time we put AI in a Barbie
is a senior technology correspondent at Vox and author of the User Friendly newsletter. He's spent 15 years covering the intersection of technology, culture, and politics at places like The Atlantic, Gizmodo, and Vice. The first big Christmas gift I remember getting was an animatronic bear named Teddy Ruxpin. Thanks to a cassette tape hidden in his belly, he could talk, his eyes and mouth moving in a famously creepy way. Later that winter, when I was sick with a fever, I hallucinated that the toy came alive and attacked me. I never saw Teddy again after that. These days, toys can do a lot more than tell pre-recorded stories. So-called smart toys, many of which are internet-connected, are a $20 billion business, and increasingly, they're artificially intelligent. Mattel and OpenAI announced a partnership last week to 'bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences with an emphasis on innovation, privacy, and safety.' They're planning to announce their first product later this year. It's unclear what this might entail: maybe it's Barbies that can gossip with you or a self-driving Hot Wheels or something we haven't even dreamed up yet. All of this makes me nervous as a young parent. I already knew that generative AI was invading classrooms and filling the internet with slop, but I wasn't expecting it to take over the toy aisle so soon. After all, we're already struggling to figure out how to manage our kids' relationship with the technology in their lives, from screen time to the uncanny videos made to trick YouTube's algorithm. As it seeps further into our society, a growing number of people are using AI without even realizing it. So you can't blame me for being anxious about how children might encounter the technology in unexpected ways. User Friendly A weekly dispatch to make sure tech is working for you, instead of overwhelming you. From senior technology correspondent Adam Clark Estes. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. AI-powered toys are not as new as you might think. They're not even new for Mattel. A decade ago, the toy giant released Hello Barbie, an internet-connected doll that listened to kids and used AI to respond (think Siri, not ChatGPT). It was essentially the same concept as Teddy Ruxpin except with a lot of digital vulnerabilities. Naturally, security researchers took notice and hacked Hello Barbie, revealing that bad actors could steal personal information or eavesdrop on conversations children were having with the doll. Mattel discontinued the doll in 2017. Hello Barbie later made an appearance in the Barbie movie alongside other poor toy choices like Sugar Daddy Ken and Pregnant Midge. Despite this cautionary tale, companies keep trying to make talking AI toys a thing. One more recent example comes from the mind of Grimes, of all people. Inspired by the son she shares with Elon Musk, the musician teamed up with a company called Curio to create a stuffed rocket ship named Grok. The embodied chatbot is supposed to learn about whomever is playing with it and become a personalized companion. In real life, Grok is frustratingly dumb, according to Katie Arnold-Ratliff, a mom and writer who chronicled her son's experience with the toy in New York magazine last year. 'What captures the hearts and minds of young children is often what they create for themselves with the inanimate artifacts.' 'When it started remembering things about my kid, and speaking back to him, he was amazed,' Arnold-Ratliff told me this week. 'That awe very quickly dissipated once it was like, why are you talking about this completely unrelated thing.' Grok is still somewhere in their house, she said, but it has been turned off for quite some time. It turns out Arnold-Ratliff's son is more interested in inanimate objects that he can make come alive with his imagination. Sure, he'll play Mario on his Nintendo Switch for long stretches of time, but afterward, he'll draw his own worlds on paper. He'll even create digital versions of new levels on Super Mario Maker but get frustrated when the software can't keep up with his imagination. This is a miraculous paradox when it comes to kids and certain tech-powered toys. Although an adult might think that, for instance, AI could prompt kids to think about play in new ways or become an innovative new imaginary friend, kids tend to prefer imagining on their own terms. That's according to Naomi Aguiar, PhD, a researcher at Oregon State University who studies how children form relationships with AI chatbots. 'There's nothing wrong with children's imaginations. They work fine,' Aguiar said. 'What captures the hearts and minds of young children is often what they create for themselves with the inanimate artifacts.' Aguiar did concede that AI can be a powerful educational tool for kids, especially for those who don't have access to resources or who may be on the spectrum. 'If we focus on solutions to specific problems and train the models to do that, it could open up a lot of opportunities,' she told me. Putting AI in a Barbie, however, is not solving a particular problem. None of this means that I'm allergic to the concept of tech-centric toys for kids. Quite the opposite, in fact. Ahead of the Mattel-OpenAI announcement, I'd started researching toys my kid might like that incorporated some technology — enough to make them especially interesting and engaging — but stopped short of triggering dystopian nightmares. Much to my surprise, what I found was something of a mashup between completely inanimate objects and that terrifying Teddy Ruxpin. One of these toys is called a Toniebox, a screen-free audio player with little figurines called Tonies that you put atop the box to unlock content — namely songs, stories, and so forth. Licenses abound, so you can buy a Tonie that corresponds with pretty much any popular kids character, like Disney princesses or Paddington Bear. There are also so-called Creative Tonies that allow you to upload your own audio. For instance, you could ostensibly have a stand-in for a grandparent to enable story time, even if Grandma and Grandpa are not physically there. The whole experience is mediated with an app that the kid never needs to see. There's also the Yoto Player and the Yoto Mini, which are similar to the Toniebox but use cards instead of figurines and have a very low-resolution display that can show a clock or a pixelated character. Because it has that display, kids can also create custom icons to show up when they record their own content onto a card. Yoto has been beta-testing an AI-powered story generator, which is designed for parents to create custom stories for their kids. If those audio players are geared toward story time, a company called Nex makes a video game console for playtime. It's called Nex Playground, and kids use their movements to control it. This happens thanks to a camera equipped with machine-learning capabilities to recognize your movements and expressions. So imagine playing Wii Sports, but instead of throwing the Nintendo controller through your TV screen when you're trying to bowl, you make the bowling motion to play the game. Nex makes most of its games in-house, and all of the computation needed for its gameplay happens on the device itself. That means there's no data being collected or sent to the cloud. Once you download a game, you don't even have to be online to play it. 'We envision toys that can just grow in a way where they become a new way to interact with technology for kids and evolve into something that's much deeper, much more meaningful for families,' David Lee, CEO of Nex, said when I asked him about the future of toys. It will be a few more years before I have to worry about my kid's interactions with a video game console, much less an AI-powered Barbie — and certainly not Teddy Ruxpin. But she loves her Toniebox. She talks to the figurines and lines them up alongside each other, like a little posse. I have no idea what she's imagining them saying back. In a way, that's the point.
