Google Home just added an interactive AI storytelling feature that lets your kids co-author the story in real time by voice. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this feature. On the one hand, the tech is pretty intriguing, and I think it could be fun. On the other hand, I have a large number of red flags that pop up across the board from a privacy and security perspective.
As a child (and now a parent), I remember storytime. My dad read me books, complete with accents and the ability to stop when I fell asleep. I, too, read to my girls, drawing on my own childhood experiences. Now, there is the option to have AI do all of this, cutting the human out of the loop (something we, as AI practitioners, always say is critical).
For the longest time, we preached not having devices in kids’ rooms. That has probably fallen by the wayside. Now, a smart speaker will be monitoring for instructions that may come from children. Will this be audited or ignored by parents? Is this just convenience or a risk?
If you do use Interactive Storytime with your children, definitely make it a family event, with parents guiding and managing the conversation. It could be quite creative, though, so let kids weigh in on the direction, but human guardrails definitely are needed.