With new Alexa skill, Lego teaches kids to obey their robot overlords
Lego and Alexa. Name a more iconic duo.
The toy company has announced an Amazon Alexa skill that will tell kids exactly how to build and play with their Legos.
Kids, armed with an Alexa device and their Legos, will choose from ten "stories" centering around vehicles and animals. "The Truck Story," for example, will follow the saga of a truck that builds a house, and then knocks it down to build a bigger house (as one does). "The Bird Story," on the other hand, features a bird searching for a new place to live. Kids will, following instructions from Alexa, enact the stories with Lego figurines.
Kids can, obediently, drive cars:
Or control any number of barnyard animals:
Lego claims it's teaching kids building, problem-solving, and roleplaying skills, but we all know what's really going on here: It's teaching your kids to obey their robot overlords.
Look, we're just putting it out there. When your kid grows up, and obeys Robo-President Alexa's order to demolish an apartment building without a second thought, don't say we didn't warn you.
Maybe. But hey, in today's day and age, maybe it's an important skill to have. If you don't want your kid to be among the first to go when the machines take over, hit up this skill.
Monica wrote for Mashable's Tech section with a focus on retail, internet of things, and the intersections of technology and social justice. She holds a degree in creative writing from Brown University, and has previously written for Dow Jones Media, the New York Post, Yahoo Finance, and others. In her free time, she can be found attempting to cook Asian food, buying board games, and looking for new hobbies.
