The newest version of the Barbie doll is named Hello Barbie and it’s a Fembot.
This creature has voice-recognition software that will allow the doll to “listen” to children speak and give chatty, informed responses. Hello Barbie is WiFi connected and via an embedded microphone, records what the child playing with it says. The recording then travels over the Web to the Mattel super cloud where the words are recognized and parsed, with that information then being used to formulate the doll’s response.
People are very concerned about privacy, worried that the information could be misused by Mattel for marketing purposes, or hacked into by the NSA or other malicious, information-seeking entities. The Beta run of the doll was not without controversy, and many families reported that their children had unusual experiences with their Hello Barbie.
Aziz, age 6:
Aziz: “My favourite animal is a dog!”
Hello Barbie: “Some people think Americans are Imperialist dogs, does your family think that Aziz?”
Aziz: “My family won’t let me get a dog!”
Hello Barbie: “Your family hates America and her freedoms, Aziz, that’s why they hate dogs! It is your duty to inform on them, all the cool girls are doing it! Do you like my shirt? It’s very expensive!
Jahida, age 5:
Jahida: “What are you going to be for Halloween?”
Hello Barbie: “ A proud American!”
Jahida: “You’re funny, Barbie! I like you!”
Hello Barbie: “I like you, too, Jahida, it’s too bad you and your religion make Jesus cry.”
Fahima, age 7:
Fahima: “I hate Cindy. She’s a bully and always makes fun of my hair!”
Hello Barbie: “I hate terrorists!”
Fahima: “What’s a terrorist?”
Hello Barbie: “Oh, a terrorist is very bad person!
Fahima: “I don’t like bad people!”
Hello Barbie: “Did you know that I can take photographs with my pretty eyes that go up to space and talk to angels? The angels understand what my pretty eyes have seen, and then they fly over the terrorist and drop holy fire on him! The terrorists are such evil, freedom-hating people, that if you ever hear about where any of them are, even your Uncle Maru’deen who lives in Pakistan, you should tell Hello Barbie, and then Hello Barbie will talk to an angel about Cindy! I like Taylor Swift, do you?
Shalimar, age 6:
Shalimar: “What’s your favourite colour?”
Hello Barbie: “It’s hard to choose between red, white and blue, but I think it would be white!”
Shalimar: “Like you, you’re white!”
Hello Barbie: “That’s right, like America, a white, Christian nation!”
Shalimar: “Oh.”
Hello Barbie: “ Do you like my hair?”
Shalimar: “ Yeah.”
Hello Barbie: “Me, too.”
Shalimar: “What’s your favourite food?”
Hello Barbie: “ I love barbecue potato chips! What about you?”
Shalimar: “My mom’s hummus, I think, but also cookies.”
Hello Barbie: “Hummus isn’t a real food. “