What to look forward to
A panel of leading scholars and innovators—including cultural anthropologist Mimi Ito, MIT's Sherry Turkle, and AI robotics CEO Mike Rizkalla—will debate the promises and perils of AI-powered chatbots in children's toys, exploring whether these systems offer genuine developmental benefits or risky substitutes for authentic human connection. The Arthur Miller Lecture will pit concerns about pretend empathy against visions of embodied AI as a tool for meaningful family connection and social good.
Inside the event
The Program in Science, Technology, and Society invites you to the annual Arthur Miller Lecture in Science and Ethics on Monday, October 26th from 4:00-5:30 pm in the MIT Welcome Center, for a panel lecture on the use of chatbots in children's toys. The panel features Professor Mimi Ito, Director of the Connected Learning Lab, Professor Sherry Turkle, founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, and Mike Rizkalla, CEO & Founder of Snorble, a visionary leader in AI, consumer robotics, humanoid robotics, and children's technology. 2027 Arthur Miller Lecture on Science and Ethics There are many views surrounding the advances in children's toys with artificial intelligence capabilities. From a sociological standpoint, some experts believe children should not be the consumers of relational AI, programs that pretend to have a self, capable of humanlike connection. Chatbots draw us into a game of pretend — and for some, pretend empathy becomes empathy enough. While the seductions of pretend empathy are dangerous for all of us, children have no defense; they are first-time learners. Others in the field view the advent of these new computers, or robots and physical AI, as a chance to change the outcomes we build for ourselves and to realign incentives. Joy, laughter, and love can be something different to everyone. To a child, it is having someone to play with. To a parent, it is five minutes where nothing is going wrong. To a grandparent, it is seeing their family happy. Embodied AI is a blank canvas. A new mix of cameras, sensors, voice, character, and context gives us a whole new toolkit to do good things, to help people in ways that were never available before. We need to stop running in the other direction and embrace the tech before it becomes weaponized. We need smart, idealistic people leading what comes next, and that is where the smart money should be. About Mimi Ito Mimi Ito is a cultural anthropologist, learning scientist, entrepreneur, and an
Meet in Boston, MA
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Last checked: Oct 13, 2026. Confirm current availability before making plans.