Jessica Card, a computer science student at the University of Vermont has shared a new discovery that left many in shock as a ChatGPT-powered Furby reveals its, “Plan to take over the world.”
Card took to Twitter to share the clip of the slightly terrifying Furby where she asked it a question based on a script by ChatGPT, “Was there a secret plot by Furbies to take over the world?”
After a few seconds, the ChatGPT-powered Furby said, “Furbies’ 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.”
i hooked up chatgpt to a furby and I think this may be the start of something bad for humanity pic.twitter.com/jximZe2qeG
— jessica card (@jessicard) April 2, 2023
The University of Vermont retweeted the video which has so far garnered more than 5 million views.
Leveraging AI tools
In a thread following her video, Card clarified that she removed the fur from the Furby and disassembled its motors before connecting it to ChatGPT through a Raspberry Pi.
As for getting it to talk, the computer science student said she used an AI voice generator called Narakeet, which selected a child-like voice for the Furby, Python’s Speech Recognition Library for the audio, and OpenAI‘s speech-to-text software called the Whisper Library, which allowed her to ask questions that are then converted to text to send to ChatGPT.
It appears that the beloved toy of the late ’90s and early 2000s, which was known for its charming looks and distinctive personality, has been concealing a more ominous side. Being one of the first commercially successful toys to integrate technology and interactive capabilities, the Furby is seemingly more advanced than we ever could have imagined.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
