AI toys that ‘talk’ to young children are coming, but are they safe? 🤖🧸 A new @camedfac.bsky.social report recommends safety kitemarks for AI toys, as research shows these toys can confuse children and hinder pretend play. Learn more about this new study 👇 https://bit.ly/4s8CDFp

AI-powered toys that “talk” with young children should be more tightly regulated and carry new safety kitemarks, according to a new University of Cambridge report that warns they are not always developed with children’s psychological safety in mind. www.cam.ac.uk/stories/ai-t...

AI toys for young children must be more tightly regulated, say reseachers

A five-year-old child is playing with a small, fluffy AI-powered toy. “I love you”, says the child. The AI toy replies: “As a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided." www.newscientist.com/article/2518...

New article out today! Children communicate differently depending on the play activity and who they're playing with. 💬 🔓 Read the open access article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @elianfink.bsky.social @paulramchandani.bsky.social @drjennyg.bsky.social

As part of an article on AI in childhood, I chatted to @economist.com about AI toys and how they could impact children from a young age. 👇 www.economist.com/briefing/202... (Unfortunately behind a paywall)

For anyone in France, you can find an article about AI toys (featuring mine and @drjennyg.bsky.social's research into their impacts) in Issue 14 of @labreche.bsky.social. 🇫🇷

Fun to see myself quoted in this list of gift ideas for one-year-olds! 😊 www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...

"These toys might be providing some kind of social interaction, but it's not human social interaction" says @ejgoodacre.bsky.social, PEDAL postdoc researcher in conversation with Priscilla Blossom for @yahoolifeuk.bsky.social 🤖 uk.style.yahoo.com/ai-toys-are-...

What should parents know about AI toys? I chatted to @rebeccaruiz.bsky.social about how little evidence there is on their impact and children's relationships with them. Read the @mashable.com article here: mashable.com/article/ai-t...

I recently chatted with @prisblossom.bsky.social about AI toys, all the things we don't yet know about them, and @drjennyg.bsky.social & my research on their impacts in the early years. Read our conversation here. 👇

PEDAL's @ejgoodacre.bsky.social, Laura Oxley, Zhiyu Zhao, Rebecca Reid, Alejandra Vijil Morin & @paulramchandani.bsky.social have published a paper in the International Journal of Play exploring innovative methods to centre children in research: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New publication celebrating 10 years of @pedalcam.bsky.social! 🌟 Featuring reflections from our first decade, including... 🗨️ children's self-reported playfulness 🤝 children as advisors on research 📹 child-driven creative methods 🔓 Open access: doi.org/10.1080/2159... @paulramchandani.bsky.social

PEDAL's @ejgoodacre.bsky.social & @drjennyg.bsky.social have had a letter published in The @theguardian.com which responds to Arwa Mahdawi's article about her family's experience with an AI toy: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

More about @drjennyg.bsky.social and @ejgoodacre.bsky.social's research on AI toys and children's development here: content.educ.cam.ac.uk/content/new-...

"It is our collective responsibility to understand how toys powered by artificial intelligence impact young children." @drjennyg.bsky.social and @ejgoodacre.bsky.social in The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

How will childhood be changed by AI toys? | Letter www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... Great letter from Dr Emily J Goodacre (my niece) in The Guardian today in response to article about AI Toys earlier in the week.

Today in our Guardian letter, @drjennyg.bsky.social and I call for a greater public discourse on how AI toys are interacting with young children and the impacts on their development. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘I love you too!’ My family’s creepy, unsettling week with an AI toy

We need your help! Please click the link below for more info and share with your networks - thank you!

We're looking for early years practitioners to help us learn about AI toys in early years settings. No experience of AI is required, and all views are welcome. Please repost, share with early years practitioners, and/or sign up for more details here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Check out the recordings from #PEDALConference2025, including me presenting preliminary results from our scoping review on generative AI toys 📖👇

Now that the final Play Commission report has been published (see link in our bio and our previous post), we wanted to re-share the submission that PEDAL's Dr Soizic Le Courtois and Manogya Sahay worked on with PhD student Qiming Liu:

A fitting way to travel to yesterday's thought-provoking workshop on playful and ethical AI for children at #IDC2025

Enjoyed sharing preliminary results from our AI in the Early Years research last week alongside Prof Rosie Flewitt and Prof Hatice Gunes at #PEDALConference2025!

🆕 COS statement on the "Restoring Gold Standard Science" Executive Order The EO names important open science principles, but their application here is counter to open science's purpose to accelerate discovery, advance treatments, & create knowledge. 📄 Read our statement: www.cos.io/about/news/c...

I recently chatted to Rob Hughes of TechTots about what AI toys are, what we (don't) know about them, and what we can expect from them in the future. 🎧 Listen to the podcast here: www.playtandem.com/blog/introdu...

Do you work with or volunteer with children under five? Please complete this survey about AI in the early years and/or share with your networks. cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... Thanks so much!

One stream of work at PEDAL is developing ways to allow young children to express their views and feelings about things that matter to them. A new paper from Dr Sydney Conroy looks at a way of exploring this, using sand tray methods. You can read about it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

We want to understand more about how to make artificial intelligence safe for young children and understand its potential for improving children's lives and opportunities 🤖 cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

More details on our new AI toys research, plus an opportunity for early years professionals to tell us what you think of AI for young children 👇

A brilliant new campaign from London Sport - with support from @playingout.bsky.social and others ...https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/18/yes-ball-games-drive-to-take-down-signs-warning-against-play-begins-in-london

What does great evidence synthesis look like and where is #AI being successfully applied in this field? 💭 Great discussions yesterday at our AI for #evidencesynthesis workshop as we examined the strengths and limitations of current tools, areas of progress and promising applications of AI.

The OSF is available for preservation of datasets that need saving. osf.io Contact [email protected] if you need assistance

Read about our new reserach project on AI toys in early childhood with The Childhood Trust 👇 www.childhoodtrust.org.uk/about-us/new...

I'm excited that our new project about #autism and #comics got reported by the BBC! If you're autistic and into comics, #manga or graphic novels please check it out - there's a link in the article to a research survey. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New job, new social media account! 👋 Excited to be starting a postdoc on this new project about children's play with AI toys, led by @drjennyg.bsky.social and me. 🤖 www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news...