> "Teddy," he said, "I'm going to pull up flowers from the flower bed.” "No Davy . . . pulling up flowers is naughty . . . don't pull up the flowers.” The little voice squeaked and the arms waved.
> "Teddy, I'm going to break a window.” "No, Davy . . . breaking windows is naughty . . . don't break any windows . . .” "Teddy, I'm going to kill a man.” Silence, just silence. Even the eyes and the arms were still.
> The roar of the gun broke the silence and blew a ruin of gears, wires and bent metal from the back of the destroyed teddy bear.
> "Teddy . . . oh, teddy . . . you should have told me," David said and dropped the gun and at last was crying.
Like using phones as babysitters, just 100x worse.
I don't doubt someone's gonna invent it, but yikes. Imagine telling kiddo their beloved sentient toy is dead because mum and dad can't afford the ever-rising subscription fees anymore.
A teddy bear is too bulky for convenience. How about Tamagotchi but it talks to you. Talkagotchi. Basically that horrible Friend necklace but in a cutely-colored egg shape that clips to your backpack. I want to not be alive.
edit: when my kid asks for one I'll know it's time to move the family to a cabin deep in the woods.
"Who was your best friend in your childhood?" "The AI teddy bear, definitely, I remember every single ad he would tell me, then I would nag my mom to buy me those toys, good times"
Just basic interactions with a child plus lessons and a voice would be game changing for the toy world.