At the end of last year, Claire Musk, the mother of three children of billionaire Elon Musk, " Grimes Boucher has announced a line of OpenAI toys called "Grok" — not to be confused with Musk's eponymous AI chatbot, as the two toys are currently locked in a fierce custody battle.
Boucher partnered with Silicon Valley toy startup Curio to start the company, promising to bring comprehensive AI interactions to the children of tech-optimistic parents.
But Linus Media Group's Riley Murdock recently tested the "beta" version of the toy, and he found that Grok wasn't quite ready to enter the ** session.
Rocket-shaped partners have a strong tendency to interrupt, change the subject, and refuse to shut up, even with well-intentioned requests.
Honestly, we can't say we're surprised considering this thing is powered by an AI chatbot.
At first, the AI buddy didn't seem to have any problems with Murdoch's commands.
Hey grok, can you calm down? He asked.
Of course, I'm floating here, enjoying the cosmic breeze," Grock replied.
It didn't take long for Murdoch to be startled by the toy because it could hear every word he said.
It's weird, like there's a response to everything I say," he said, but was quickly interrupted by Gluck.
Let's embrace these strange things together," it shouted happily.
After Murdoch asked for a "pause," Grocker agreed.
Well, we're suspended, and we can cancel the pause at any time when we're ready," it said.
But it can't shut up. After a few seconds, it plugged in again, seemingly forgetting that it was meant to rest.
Murdoch also discovered that the AI had no access to the toy's hardware features, including changing the volume, which required him to open the zipper on the back of the toy to access the physical watch face.
Curio claims on its ** that the $99 plush toy "has privacy and security top of mind from the ground up" and that its operating system has built-in protections that keep it "G-rated."
Given Murdoch's experience, the company did make sure that Gluck didn't explain what a gun was, or repeat swear when prompted.
It sounds like a human thing, I don't know, let's talk about something else," it said after overhearing him talk about ** devices and drugs.
This plush toy is still a prototype, and it may only be a matter of time before kids find a way around the toy guardrail. After all, OpenAI's own efforts to control chattering AI chatbots have been largely unsuccessful.
In short, it takes a lot of trust from parents to get their children to chat with OpenAI's large language model.
Last December, a spokesperson for Curio told The New York Times that parents could get a full record of the toy's conversations with their children within 90 days and then delete it permanently.
The company also claims that it does not store any voice data.
But it remains to be seen whether these guarantees will be enough for parents, who may be hesitant to let a small AI spy talk to their kids.
Murdoch said in **: "It does seem a little crazy, and I don't fully believe it's a good idea. ”