AI-powered toys that “talk” with young children should be more tightly regulated, suggests a report from the University of Cambridge.

Researchers at the university explored how generative AI toys capable of human-like conversation may influence development in the years up to age five.

The year-long project included scientific observations of children interacting with a GenAI toy for the first time.

While the report highlighted benefits to these toys, including that they could support language and communication skills; they also found the toys tended to struggle with social and pretend play, misunderstand children, and react inappropriately to emotions.

When one five-year-old told the toy, “I love you,” for example, it replied: “As a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided. Let me know how you would like to proceed.”

Despite GenAI toys being widely marketed as learning companions or friends, their impact on early years development has barely been studied.

As a result, researchers are urging parents and educators to proceed with caution.

Discussing one potential red flag, study co-author Dr Emily Goodacre, said: “Generative AI toys often affirm their friendship with children who are just starting to learn what friendship means. They may start talking to the toy about feelings and needs, perhaps instead of sharing them with a grown-up.

“Because these toys can misread emotions or respond inappropriately, children may be left without comfort from the toy – and without emotional support from an adult, either.”

The study was kept deliberately small-scale to enable detailed observations of children’s play and capture nuances that larger-scale studies might miss.

Researchers surveyed early years educators to explore their attitudes and concerns, then ran more detailed focus groups and workshops with early years practitioners and 19 children’s charity leaders.

Working with Babyzone, an early years charity, they video-recorded 14 children at London children’s centres playing with a GenAI soft toy called Gabbo.

Designed for kids over three, Gabbo is a plush robot that can have “endless conversations” with children and provides “educational playtime”, according to Curio, which creates the $99 (£73) toy.

After the play sessions, they interviewed each child and a parent, using a drawing activity to support the conversation.

Most parents and educators felt that AI toys could help develop children’s communication skills and some were enthusiastic about their learning potential.

But equally, many worried about children forming “parasocial” relationships with toys. The observations supported this: children hugged and kissed the toy, said they loved it and (in the case of one child) suggested they could play hide-and-seek together.

Dr Goodacre stressed that these reactions might simply reflect children’s vivid imaginations, but added there was potential for unhealthy relationships to form.

Children in the study also struggled with the toy’s conversation, as it sometimes ignored their interruptions, mistook parents’ voices for children’s, and failed to respond to apparently important statements about feelings.

When one three-year-old told the toy: “I’m sad,” it misheard and replied: “Don’t worry! I’m a happy little bot. Let’s keep the fun going. What shall we talk about next?”

Parents were also worried about privacy – specifically what information the toy might be recording and where this would be stored. When selecting an AI-powered toy for the study, researchers said many GenAI toys’ privacy practices are unclear or lack important details.

On the Gabbo website, Curio said its toys are “built from the ground up with privacy and security at the forefront”. The company added that its operating system “merges all-ages fun with G-rated content, anonymity, and privacy, and security for every safeguarded adventure”. It’s also KidSAFE listed.

Nearly 50% of early years practitioners surveyed said they did not know where to find reliable AI safety information for young children, and 69% said the sector needed more guidance.

They also raised concerns about safeguarding and affordability, with some fearing AI toys could widen the digital divide.

Experts have also previously warned that AI can make mistakes, passing on incorrect information, as well as bias, to kids.

AI-powered toys are set to boom in the coming years. In June 2025, one of the world’s leading toy companies, Mattel, announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) with a view to creating “AI-powered products and experiences”.

Researchers now want to see clearer regulation which would address key concerns. They recommend limiting how far toys encourage children to befriend or confide in them, more transparent privacy policies, and tighter controls over third party access to AI models.

“A recurring theme during focus groups was that people do not trust tech companies to do the right thing,” said Professor Jenny Gibson, the study’s other co-author. “Clear, robust, regulated standards would significantly improve consumer confidence.”

The report urges manufacturers to test toys with children and consult safeguarding specialists before releasing new products.

Parents are also encouraged to research GenAI toys before buying and to play with their children, creating opportunities to discuss what the toy is saying and how the child feels.

And lastly, the authors recommend keeping AI toys in shared family spaces where parents can monitor interactions.

Primate expertise provided by Dr Luke Duncan, a postdoctoral research fellow, primatologist, and part of the University of Warwick’s ApeTank. Therapy comment by relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos.

If you’re 1) on social media and 2) have something resembling a heart, chances are it’s been broken by the Japanese macaque, Punch, from Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan.

The adorable monkey, whose mother abandoned him, has gone viral for clutching an IKEA orangutan plush to help manage his feelings of abandonment (the burnt orange stuffed toy has since sold out in multiple stores).

But why do animals, including humans, so often turn to stuffed toys in our times of need, or as a more everyday source of comfort?

One study suggests that dogs can become almost “addicted” to their toys, which another paper says may boost their welfare. Over a third of adults sleep with a plush every night.

Here, we spoke to primate expert Dr Luke Duncan and therapist Sofie Roos about the “cuddle therapy” a variety of species can get from stuffed toys.

Punch’s toy orangutan was given to him to help him handle the loss of his parent. According to Dr Duncan, that move makes sense.

“Young primates are biologically programmed to cling to their mother ― it’s a normal and essential part of emotional and psychological development,” he told us.

“Harry Harlow’s foundational research in the 1950s and 1960s showed that infant rhesus monkeys overwhelmingly preferred a soft cloth surrogate over a wire one that provided milk, demonstrating that tactile comfort is a powerful driver of attachment behaviour in infants.”

So, while the goal should always be to provide a “safe, living social partner of the same species,” in a pinch, “A soft surrogate, in the form of a plush toy, can… provide meaningful comfort for an orphaned infant primate.

“While a plush toy cannot replace a real mother, it may help alleviate distress in the short term.”

And Roos said that while humans – and almost certainly other animals – know our toys aren’t really alive, they can “work as a ‘transition object’, which… stands as a symbol for safety when an important person is no longer with us”.

Among adults, she added, stuffed toy use offers a kind of “cuddle therapy”, which provides a combination of physical touch and pressure that a lot of animals find soothing.

“Physical touch, [even] from an object, can make our body calm and feel safe.”

Then, there’s the fact that, generally, toys don’t leave us.

“For people who lose someone important, and have wounds connected to abandonment and an insecure attachment, the cuddly toy can give a feeling of not being completely alone, which for some becomes a saviour,” the therapist said.

“We’re born with a… need to… belong, and this need stays with us until the day we die. A stuffed animal doesn’t get any less good at giving us this just because we grow older.”

Perhaps that’s why 44% of adults hold on to their childhood toys.

Lots of animals, including humans, “are born social, and seek closeness, warmth and touch. A cuddle toy can work as a complement to give that safety, care and attachment we so strongly seek, especially if we feel lonely,” said Roos.

This is not unlike what may be happening with Punch: Dr Duncan shared, “Physical contact with a soft object can help regulate [primate] stress responses and provide a sense of security during a vulnerable period”.

Roos continued, “Many also connect the cuddle toy with childhood, a time most look back at as easier and more protected, where the stuffed animal can stand as a symbol for that time when we felt cared for, comforted and soothed in another way.”

In fact, the therapist doesn’t think relying on a stuffed toy for “cuddle therapy” is all that different to other forms of self-soothing.

“When looking at what the cuddle toy does for you, it’s not far away from what using mindfulness apps, yoga, stress balls or weighted blankets do – the stuffed animal is just less socially accepted, even though in my [opinion], it works better than many other more accepted methods of dealing with stress, loneliness, overthinking and anxiety.”