Even babies are living in an AI-powered surveillance state

Is the baby tired? Is the baby even breathing?? For millennia, parents have answered those questions using their own wits, but today many are relying on AI to let them know.

Increasingly, parents are deferring to AI-powered baby monitors that offer 24/7 sleep tracking and analytics to make everyday parenting decisions, like whether it’s time for their little one to take a nap. Per The New York Times:

• Nanit’s popular smart baby-monitoring system, which involves an AI-enabled camera and connected app, provides round-the-clock sleep tracking, with data on things like how many times the baby woke up and the type of sleep they got. Its kits cost ~$474 on the higher end, plus $100 in annual subscription fees.
• CuboAi’s $359 Smart Baby Monitor 3, a similar device, offers “AI-scheduled lullabies” and notifies parents when it detects the baby is coughing or has its face covered.
• Owlet’s $300 Dream Sock tracks pulse rates and blood oxygen levels for real-time data.

Companies tout potential benefits like being able to catch life-threatening conditions early on and preventing babies’ heads from becoming flat through monitoring; some even argue that these AI-monitored kids may one day be interested in seeing their sleep data (OK…). 

But there are downsides…

… like concerns over data privacy and security vulnerabilities; diminishing parents’ self-confidence in their own abilities and instincts; and needless expenses. (We all grew up without AI tracking our every move and we turned out just fine... right?)

While these devices claim to offer peace of mind, the constant stream of data can also be anxiety-inducing — malfunctioning trackers can send parents into a panic and pediatricians have criticized Owlet for using fear as a marketing tactic.

Plus, it just feels kinda creepy/icky/dystopian.

Even still…

… many millennial and Gen Z parents, obsessed with their own health-tracking wearables and data-driven insights, are on board: Nanit has 1m daily users and makes $100m+ in annual revenue.

Perhaps more than their choiceless progeny, parents stand to benefit the most from the babytech…

• Owlet says 94% of parents see improved sleep.
• Nanit claims its system gives parents 36 days worth of snoozing back a year, and even suggests it can improve their time in the sheets in other ways, too.

… but not more than the companies selling them.

Baby monitors represent a market worth just $316m, but the wearables market is worth ~$100B. For now, babytech is largely limited to health and sleep tracking, but given the huge economic potential, companies like Nanit are already working on expanding its products to track speech development, motor skills, and more.