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#techethics

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Update: This piece is getting some interesting pushback from parents who think I'm being alarmist about AI toys over on my other social platforms.
 
On the other side of that, I'm hearing so many people taking the usual "AI BAAAAD" stance, some of those people thinking I agree with them simply because I took a hardliner stance in this post.
 
For clarification: I'm not anti-AI. I use these tools daily for my research and writing as well as accessibility aids to offset some of the disadvantages I face due to my blindness. I study AI from the computer scientist perspective and am studying to be an elementary teacher precisely because I see AI's educational potential. I'm not even entirely against the idea of AI companionship, if it's framed right.
 
What actually bothers me is the business model. When Moxie robots suddenly "died" last year because the company went under, kids had to grieve their artificial friend. Parents got a scripted letter to explain why their $799 companion stopped talking which provided little comfort to kids who experienced digital abandonment. Trust me, the videos I've seen of kids crying because their beloved friend unexpectedly died over night is truly heartbreaking.
 
That's no glitch, that's what happens when you outsource childhood relationships to venture capital that only cares about investment returns.
 
The real question isn't whether AI toys are inherently bad. It's whether we're okay with corporations experimenting on our kids' emotional development while claiming it's "age-appropriate play."
 
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.
 
open.substack.com/pub/kaylielf
 
 
 
 
#AIToys #ChildPrivacy #ChildDevelopment #DigitalRights #TechEthics #SurveillanceCapitalism #COPPA #DataPrivacy #ChildSafety #TechRegulation #DigitalLiteracy #ParentingInTheDigitalAge #EdTech #CorporateAccountability #TechCriticism #EthicalTech

open.substack.comAI toys promise magical childhood experiences, but they're collecting our children's deepest secrets for corporate profit. 🧸🤖How Six Decades of Cultural Conditioning Primed Us for the AI Childhood We Didn't Know We Were Asking For
Continued thread

📈 Piracy is rising fast—and it's not just nostalgia.

🔹 15+ billion piracy site visits in 2023
🔹 Software piracy remains ~37%
🔹 Music piracy jumped 13% in a year
🔹 Streaming piracy up 36% since 2020

Why the increase?

Subscription fatigue

Rising costs across SaaS and entertainment

Fragmented content (too many platforms)

DRM is punishing legit users

Loss of ownership in digital goods

People aren’t just stealing—they’re pushing back.

When paid options are worse than pirated ones, the system is broken. Time to rethink value, access, and trust.

I'm noticing a rise in software, media, and game piracy again. Why?

Because people are fed up.

SaaS fatigue. Subscription overload. Constant price hikes with minimal improvements. Products we never truly "own." DRM that breaks more than it protects.

It’s no longer just about "getting it free"—for many, it’s a protest. When Photoshop is $30/month and requires internet to launch, and movies are split across 6+ overpriced services, people will rebel.

We’ve modernized the tools, but repeated the mistake:
Make access too expensive or too frustrating, and piracy becomes a more ethical experience.

People don’t want to be free. They want fairness.

#FOSS#SaaS#Piracy
Replied in thread

@cliffwade
Totally agree beause the human connection builds real trust, especially in life support. At squads.com, we see AI as a tool to assist, not to replace people. Maybe it’s time more companies asked where AI adds value, not just if it can.

Where do youu think AI helps?
#TechEthics #AIUse

🧬 The Future Of Discover: What AlphaEvolve Tells Us About the Future of Human Knowledge
buzzsprout.com/2405788/episode
helioxpodcast.substack.com/pub

The kind of breakthrough that makes you wonder what else we've been missing, what other solutions have been hiding in plain sight, waiting for the right kind of intelligence to find them.

#AlphaEvolve #DeepMind #Google#AI #AlphaEvolve #DeepMind #MachineLearning #OpenScience #TechEthics #AlgorithmicDiscovery #ComputerScience #Innovation #TechCriticism

🤖 EU grapples with AI's copyright crisis
AI companies use copyrighted content without permission while maintaining "confidentiality around exact data used," leaving "legal limitations and uncertainty" AI and copyright: The training of general‑purpose AI | Epthinktank | European Parliament
Big Tech profits, creators lose control
#AI #Copyright #TechEthics
epthinktank.eu/2025/04/28/ai-a

EpthinktankAI and copyright: The training of general‑purpose AIBy Members' Research Service

👁️ The UK police are expanding live facial recognition use across England and Wales — a controversial move sparking fresh privacy debates.

⚠️ While authorities argue it will aid in locating dangerous suspects, critics warn of overreach, biased outcomes, and the chilling effect on civil liberties.

🔍 This raises critical leadership and ethics questions for tech, policy, and security professionals: How do we balance innovation in public safety with the fundamental right to privacy?

What safeguards should be non-negotiable?

#PrivacyMatters #Surveillance #AI #FacialRecognition #TechEthics #security #privacy #cloud #infosec #cybersecurity

theguardian.com/technology/202

The Guardian · Live facial recognition cameras may become ‘commonplace’ as police use soarsBy Daniel Boffey