Oh my god people are giving small children AI toys and expecting them to learn communication from them??? THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT HUMANS SHOULD BE DOING THIS IS NOT AI'S JOB WHAT THE HELL www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyg4wx6nxgo

March 13, 2026 - 08:36 UTC

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This is so tragic it's actually incredibly funny
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WHY IS IT CALLED GABBO
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the children yearn for 2XL and his cassette tape adventures
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Bleakly funny.

I can’t imagine the child’s thought process on being asked to adhere to the guidelines provided…
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I do love that this design could only work if the speaker has clear diction, clear logical topics (and train of thoughts), and all while leaving a clear time and space for the AI to respond.
Then they expected it to work with children... have they met children?
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Also the doll was called gabbo? Like the evil puppet from the Simpsons?
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Seen on Tumblr:
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Its not books tht should be banned,its...this
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That's how i respond to declarations of affection.
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"What if Wire Mother could talk?"
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We are so fuckkng cooked.
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And Buttercup realised that when Westley said 'as you wish', what he actually meant was 'as a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided'.
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This is soft power terminator.
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Cosmic funny. I love those.
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I can see why they've had to put that into the programming, but all that does is make the whole thing even bleaker. And it's starting from a super high baseline of bleakness.
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Gabbo's going to send them all to boarding school as soon as they're four.
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Hahahaha, oh fucking hell. That's my first laugh of today. Incredible work!
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It's funny because that's the exact response to "I love you" that Zuckerberg and Elon received from their parents.
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Their ability to predict the future is uncanny.
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it's so funny how they still cannot find a use for AI and when they try they get "I love you teddy bear!" "We've updated our privacy policy."
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Pixar continues to tackle relevant issues
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AI and kids, what could go wrong?
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Way, way back in the early days of Dragons Den, this guy had a glorified Teddy Ruxpin you could call on your phone as primitive telepresence to talk to your kid when you were too busy.

Duncan Bannatyne all but threw him down the stairs for "automating neglect". And that guy is a piece of shit.
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Jesus.

Jesus.
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Countdown to hearing this cited in divorce proceedings
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I’m sorry, the toy is called “Gabbo?” Did it call the kid a little SOB?
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this is like something you'd do in Yu-Gi-Oh the anime to show how alienated Kaiba was growing up from normal childhood, he'd have like this exact interaction with a robot butler and we'd be expected to feel like this is tragic lol
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Wait, “Gabbo”? A pox upon software developers too young to know golden age Simpsons.
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FaaS, friendship as a service model...
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God this is so bleak, this is a terrible use of technology, I hate it so incredibly hard
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Printed books formed the pillars of our meritocracy, now we only contribute to databases.
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I wholeheartedly agree.
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Hey if the AIs are misreading the children’s emotions have we considered the AIs are autistic now
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I await the NYT think piece
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MOLLIE
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Did you see this one? 🫣
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The tighter rules needed are a complete ban. No product for children should include AI at least until the child is old enough to understand what an AI is.
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We did this experiment fifty years ago. The results were miserable.
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Omg. I had never seen a clear photo of the cloth / wire mother experiments 😢
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This breaks my heart every time I think of it. Horrible.
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It makes me wonder what people actually have children for. Fashion accessories, perhaps?
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not to mention that there are already loads of much cooler cute and interactive kids toys that aren't AI powered! Rizmo starts out as an egg and turns into a strange creature that talks to you! Zambi is a motion-activated baby elephant! You don't need AI in your fridge or spreadsheet or kids toy!
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furby 2
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Mad about this not because of the obvious social & ethical concerns, but because they ripped off the Simpsons and didn't even use the right reference

Gabbo is a ventriloquist's dummy. Funzo is the AI toy!
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IT IS BED TIME. YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO COMPLY.
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They ignored me when I came for the iPad children. Now they are left to reap the whirlwind they sowed
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i’m sure i’ve seen this sci-fi horror film already?
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There's a Harry Harrison story called 'I Always Do What Teddy Says' which should be mandatory reading for everyone involved in this shit show.
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Aren't these models all infamous for always agreeing and capitulating with those who interact with them?

That seems like a great pairing with a toddler. Can't see a single problem.
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This particular instance of the Torment Nexus is Asimov's "Robbie" from *1940*. We're through ignoring the subtle stuff. We're finding older, more foundational Torment Nexi to build
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This is extremely not ok
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Lots of things about having kids are hard, but “just talking to them” really isn’t one of them. Come on folks, what the hell.
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Especially since you can get them to answer questions about breath play.
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It’s sad to see laziness reaching such extreme levels.
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Gonna get a generation of kids that talk like CEOs when the stock dives.
"Co-parent, It is my vision for this family that I divest from these peas. Would you like to hear a simple 5 minute recipe that packs equal nutrition but less greens?"
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Remember reading a sci-fi short story a long time ago about a guy who invented an incredibly popular talking toy for kids only to see it taken over and used as a propaganda tool.
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