In 2020, a 14-inch tall robot named Moxie was introduced to the world as a way to help children build social and emotional skills through conversations and interactive games guided by artificial intelligence. Kids became enthralled and attached to the oblong teal robot, referring to it as their best friend.
Four years later, Embodied, the company that created Moxie, shut down. Children were distraught as parents broke the news to them that the $799 toy would soon stop working. Social media videos showed the fallout: One girl sobbed as her tearful father consoled her. A young boy started crying and clutched his robot, moaning, “I don’t want Moxie to die!”
To Dr. Dana Suskind, a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, this experience was not only completely avoidable, it also reflects the danger of AI in early childhood. While AI friends may seem appealing for young children, Suskind says those tools are too “deferential.” It may be hard for parents to watch children argue with peers or have difficult interactions, but by experiencing that and repairing a relationship afterward, children learn important conflict-resolution skills and how to compromise.
“AI use will not lead to critical thinking. AI use will not lead to the ability to deeply connect with other people. AI use will not lead to creativity and curiosity, because all of those experiences take human presence, messy interaction and productive struggles,” Suskind said in an interview. “AI is the antithesis of that.”
Moxie is one of many AI tools described in Suskind’s new book, “Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity & Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI,” which publishes this month. The book explores decades of research on brain development that shows why human interaction is needed for early brain development and why AI replacements can be harmful.
“In those early years, talk and interaction and human interaction is the instruction guide for the brain,” Suskind said. “Real parent input, or caregiver input, the responsiveness, the back-and-forth, is the key to building a child’s brain.”
Suskind cautions that there could be even bigger repercussions as AI usage expands. A recent study of parents with children up to 8 years old by Common Sense Media found 29 percent of young children have used AI for school, and 24 percent use AI tools to create stories or art. Ten percent of children ages 5 to 8 have talked or texted with a chatbot. Children now have access to AI toys such as dolls and stuffed animals with embedded chatbots, and can watch AI-generated content online. AI apps for parents track infant breathing and analyze crying. Companies are creating human-like robots that promise to take on duties in homes and in schools.
Given how vulnerable children’s brains are in the early years, Suskind worries about the potential for these and other AI tools to shape brain architecture.
“We’ve never ever questioned, ‘Are children raised by humans?’” Suskind said. “And now, with the age of AI and technology really seeping into all facets of our lives, the idea of children being human raised, you can’t bank on that.”
Despite her concern over AI in the early years, Suskind says she is not anti-AI. In her book, she also highlights promising uses of artificial intelligence, including robots that listen to children read, which have been found to be less stressful for kids, and AI tools that help ease the cognitive load on parents by producing meal plans or cross-referencing parent and school calendars. But she wants parents, educators and caregivers to be able to discern these uses from those that could replace real human interaction.
“What AI has shown us in its beautiful, frictionless perfection is that actually our friction and our imperfections are what help build a child’s brain,” Suskind said. ”I can say confidently that a human is who should be building a child’s brain.”
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