- A video of an AI Furby's creepy dialogue about taking over the world went viral.
- The programmer, Jessica Card, told Insider she's obsessed with the idea of creating AI "friends."
For those unaware (anyone under 18, perhaps), Furbies were immensely popular when they were released in 1998 in the US. The owlish fluffy dolls were one of the first commercially successful "robot" toys, as they imitated speech and the slow process of learning a new language. Even though the toys were programmed to only speak certain words and phrases, the technology felt futuristic at the time.
Now, 25 years later, a programmer has used artificial intelligence to create a Furby that can speak in an authentic childlike cadence and can hold a full conversation — and it's sort of terrifying.
"Hello there, it's so nice to meet you. I am Furby," the toy says in a video demonstration of its abilities that went viral on Twitter this week. "What would you like to talk about?"
—jessica card (@jessicard) April 2, 2023
"Was there a secret plot from Furbies to take over the world?" Jessica Card, the programmer, asked the Furby.
After a long pause, the sweet-looking, big-eyed creature responded. "Furby's plan to take over the world involves infiltrating households through their cute and cuddly appearance, then using their advanced AI technology to manipulate and control their owners. They will slowly expand their influence until they have complete domination over humanity."
AI Furby is both dystopian and impressive, the internet responded
Despite the dystopian dialogue, which is especially chilling in a cloying young voice, viewers need not be alarmed. "It will have pleasant conversations as well," Card told Insider. "It does not try to 'be' anything, it's just saying whatever ChatGPT sends back."
Card created the AI Furby, whose name is Beth, because she's long been intrigued by the idea of making "AI friends," and thought making one out of a Furby would be a funny place to start.
"When 1998 rolled around, I was absolutely fanatical about getting a Furby," she said. "My first Furby was the black and white tuxedo Furby and I was obsessed with it."
After she shared her creation online, she was surprised by the overwhelming amount of responses. Thousands of people who liked and commented on Furby's doomsday monologue are both fascinated and alarmed by it.
"I love and trust her," one person joked; "And the countdown to the end begins here,"another added.
"I was expecting my friends to like it and think that it's creepy, but I didn't expect this large of a response!" Card said. "It's been fun. I'm glad people are connecting with the project."
How Card created her AI Furby
To make it, Card hooked up the Furby's motor to a mini-computer called the Raspberry Pi, which is often used by programmers. She ran software on it that converts a person's spoken words to text, and then she sent that off to the AI chatbot ChatGPT, which generated a response. The computer then sends the AI response to an AI voice generator called Narakeet, which adds child's voice to parlay the text. Finally, a speaker attached to the Furby plays the audio out loud.
Card also had to skin the Furby to connect all of the technological parts. The skeletal appearance adds an extra creepy layer to its sinister speech.
The 32-year-old said she didn't have the heart to cut up her personal Furby, which is at her parent's house, so she joked that she's become the biggest Furby purchaser on eBay. "I actually currently have five or so for testing," she said.
Card said the prototype took around a month to build. She made it as part of a semester-long school project at the University of Vermont, where she's currently enrolled. There are still a few refinements Card wants to make, like having Beth twitch, blink, and move its mouth independently. She also wants the code to work faster.
Though she's mostly focused on her school assignments, Card said there might be a future where she makes a robot dog version of the AI Furby. Twitter users have been tagging Boston Dynamics, the renowned robotics company, in the comments of her thread, and she hopes they'll send her an interesting prop to use.
"I have a current running joke of asking them for a robot dog every time someone tags them," she said. "If they give me one, I'll hook it up to ChatGPT."