A.I. Toys (MEGA HAUL RANDOM AND MIXED SURPRISE ULTRA RARE UNBOXING COMPILATION!!!)

How does society construct gender through toys? The toys described on these screens were created by a machine learning algorithm trained on real consumer products sold online that have been labeled as “girls” and “boys” toys. After learning from the existing dataset of toys, the A.I. algorithm was asked to invent new toys based on what it learned, heightening the absurdity of how we gender toys in stereotyped binaries. 

The resulting toys have striking differences; girls toys are largely centered on jewelry, domestic chores, dolls and animals, while boys toys are largely centered on weaponry, electronics, cars, and construction. In collaborating with the machine learning model, the resulting toys— derived directly from the toys we produce for children in real life—serve as a reflection of the gendered societal values we place on children through objects of play.

Photo credit: Brad Farwell and Ani Liu.

Image credit: Brad Farwell

Video by Brad Farwell. As shown at Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space