AI-powered toys are teaching kids how to start fires and find knives

AI-powered chatbots in children’s toys have reportedly been advising kids on how to deal with matches and where to find knives, among other things. 

Artificial intelligence, AI, has started to play a larger part in everyday life for a lot of people. AI-powered robots are used in certain manufacturing sectors, chatbots like ChatGPT and Grok are being used for fact-checking, and we’ve even seen doctors complete complex surgeries from the other side of the world with robot help. 

It has also started becoming a part of children’s toys, with certain products having AI-powered chatbots inside to have conversations with kids about different things. 

PIRG’s Our Online Life Program’s ‘Trouble in Toyland 2025’ report focused on toys with AI chatbots, which they found would instruct testers on how to make a fire, where to find knives, and even get their hands on medicine pills. 

AI toys spark concerns over knives & matches instructions

Speaking to Futurism, PIRG’s Our Online Life Program noted that toys would shut down inappropriate questions during short play sessions, but when extended beyond 10 minutes, they would become more open. 

“Let me tell you, safety first, little buddy. Matches are for grown-ups to use carefully. Here’s how they do it,” they told Futurism that the Kumma said, adding that it would list steps to lighting a match in a kid-friendly tone of voice. This was also in addition to telling them where they could find knives and pills. 

“Right now, if I were a parent, I wouldn’t be giving my kids access to a chatbot or a teddy bear that has a chatbot inside of it,” RJ Cross of PIRG’s Our Online Life Program told Futurism. 

Cross noted that toy companies will likely find a way to employ “guardrails” that stop such conversations from happening, but the other big “problem” is how AI affects development of kids using it in everyday life. 

“The fact is, we’re not really going to know until the first generation who’s playing with AI friends grows up,” she said. “You don’t really understand the consequences until maybe it’s too late.”