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☆ AI-powered teddy bears could read personalized bedtime stories to kids within 5 years, the boss of a major toy producer said
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A major toymaker said that AI teddy bears could read personalized bedtime stories to kids by 2028. AI experts have recently been sounding the alarm about the dangers around AI including privacy. AI teddy bears that read bedtime stories to your children and teach them values could become a norm by 2028, according to a major toymaker. Wong pointed out that smart toys including teddy bears could use "AI to generate stories customized for the kid rather than reading from a book," because they will have access to personal information about the child. can actually talk to the toy, and the toy can actually give [them] a response," he added.

Persons: Allan Wong, —, Wong, VTech, Twitter Elon Musk, Kamala Harris Organizations: Financial Times, VTech Holdings, Twitter, Fox, Google, Microsoft, White House

Or they feature commercial characters from media juggernauts, imbued with predetermined personalities and storylines that encourage children to copy, not create. Yet bestselling toys — as distinct from best — are too often those that are most advertised to kids; digitally enhanced or linked to popular media characters; or both. Companies that profit hugely from licensed characters have a vested interest in preventing children’s creative play — and stifling their creativity. Toys that promote creativity are less likely to be huge moneymakers because they can be used repeatedly in lots of different ways. These toys seem to be made with a kind of planned obsolescence, so new ones will soon be needed.

☆ India festival spending booms despite inflation worries, global slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Manoj Kumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The sales would include nearly $15.2 billion offline sales, compared to about $8.5 billion in 2019, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). read moreBut economists said the sense in India was that inflation has peaked while economic activity was picking up. The bump in consumer demand is expected to support economic growth of around 6.5% in the fiscal year ending March 2023, the highest among the world's major economies. Credit demand increases Credit demand increasesThe retail boom is also a boon for the government - goods and services tax collections, a barometer of consumer demand, rose 26% year-on-year in September, data showed. "After two consecutive downbeat festive seasons, consumer sentiment and spending appear to have rebounded this year... which may boost economic growth in the current quarter, but may not sustain thereafter."

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