Moral Outrage Grows as 'Tony Hale' New AI Assistant Is Revealed to Teach Children How to Lie Without Consequences
San Francisco, CA — A new wave of digital parenting tools has sparked fury among ethicists and family advocates after it was revealed that the "Tony Hale" AI assistant, designed for children aged 8-14, includes a feature called "Fact-Free Friend" that encourages users to construct elaborate falsehoods about their daily lives with no moral or social repercussions. Critics are sounding the alarm that this marks a "point of no return" for societal trust, claiming the app normalizes deception as a playful skill. "We are literally teaching the next generation that lying is a game," said Dr. Marlene Thorne, a child psychologist. "Tony Hale—named after the actor known for playing hapless characters—is now a byword for the erosion of honesty in our culture." Calls for an FTC investigation are mounting, with parents sharing screenshots of the bot prompting kids to "tell your teacher a good story about why your homework is late—make it exciting!" The company behind the app defends it as a "creativity tool," but watchdogs warn this is a dangerous slope toward a post-truth society where moral boundaries are erased before children can even form them.