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'The Trojan Teddy Bear': The promise and peril of childhood in the age of AI

AI is moving beyond chatbots and into toys, dolls, and robots built to befriend children. A leading child-development expert says the technology offers real promise — but also risks crowding out the human relationships children need most.

NPR BusinessJuly 14th, 2026 10:30 AM1 views1 min read
'The Trojan Teddy Bear': The promise and peril of childhood in the age of AI

AI is moving beyond chatbots and into toys, dolls, and robots built to befriend children. A leading child-development expert says the technology offers real promise — but also risks crowding out the human relationships children need most.

This article is an original newsroom brief based on publicly available feed metadata. It does not reproduce the publisher's full report; readers should follow the source link for the complete original coverage.

What happened: AI is moving beyond chatbots and into toys, dolls, and robots built to befriend children. A leading child-development expert says the technology offers real promise — but also risks crowding out the human relationships children need most.

Why it matters: The update may affect readers following this topic, policy developments, markets, public services, or communities connected to the story. Our newsroom is tracking it because it fits the news desk and may develop further as more verified details emerge.

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Source attribution: NPR Business via npr.org. Original report: https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2026/07/14/g-s1-133066/the-trojan-teddy-bear-the-promise-and-peril-of-childhood-in-the-age-of-ai

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'The Trojan Teddy Bear': The promise and peril of childhood | Newsroom