Lyla in the Loop is the latest addition to the PBS Kids lineup, set to debut on February 5, 2024. The website for the series is already up.It includes the theme song and character profiles. When I clicked on the theme song, I immediately noticed the inclusion of the phrases "step it out" and "break it down," which are already featured heavily in Work it Out Wombats. WIOW's curriculum revolves around computational thinking. Granted, it may not involve actual computers or coding, but computational thinking can apply to everyday tasks as well, and concepts like "break it down" are useful for both computer science and everyday life. Take it from me as a computer science major (for now, at least, because I'm going to change my major soon).

Lyla in the Loop is another "problem-solving" show from PBS with a STEM curriculum, and it borrows a bit from its predecessors. For example

• Like Alma's Way, it takes place in the city, revolves around a little girl and her family, and is animated by Pipeline Studios.
• Like Rosie's Rules, the protagonist has the token Asian friend. In Rosie, Rosie has a Chinese-American friend named Jun. Jun (and her twin Quinn) also seem to be Rosie's only friends that we know of, since most of the episodes focus on her family rather than her friends. In Lyla, Lyla has a Vietnamnese-American friend named Everett. We don't know if Lyla has any other friends besides Stu (who we'll get to in a bit) and Everett. Everett is a boy, which means that the shippers will immediately latch onto them, because God forbid that a girl and a boy just be friends. We'll just see if they have as much 'chemistry' as Molly and Tooey.
• As mentioned above, Lyla shares a computational thinking curriculum with Work it Out Wombats

But there are two things that make Lyla stand out from the crowd. The first of these is Stu.

Stu is Lyla's cat-like sidekick and effectively the mascot of the series. The official website is adamant that Stu is not a "pet" or a "robot," but Lyla's sidekick who does whatever he's instructed to do. Quote the website:

"Stu is short for “Something Truly Unique.” Stu is a real-live creature but isn’t quite a pet. Stu isn’t a robot, but he acts in some very specific, rule-following ways. Stu loves to help and always does exactly what he’s instructed to do – nothing more, nothing less."

A blue, cat-like, totally-not-robot sidekick to a human child immediately brought to mind the titular character of Doraemon to many netizens.

Like Stu, Doraemon is a blue cat thing who hangs around a human child. However, while Stu is definitely not a robot, Doraemon is. They are also missing a body part. Doraemon has no ears because they were eaten by mice. Stu has no tail, and I highly doubt that the series will provide an explanation for it.

But is this an intentional reference? Probably not. I mean, PBS Kids shows are all written by old geezers who have probably never seen an anime in their life, and if they have, it's probably the stock stuff like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, or even Akira (Xavier Riddle and Work It Out Wombats have both referenced the the bike slide scene from Akira). The exception to this rule is Molly of Denali, which went viral for referencing Mob Psycho 100 of all shows.

Keeping this in mind, it's very unlikely that the writers of Lyla even know that Doraemon exists. Doraemon is a perennial classic in Japan - think of it as One Piece for little kids. It's also extremely popular in countries like India. However, Doraemon isn't that popular in America. It aired on Disney XD here for a little while, but failed to make any major waves. I guess Americans don't really care for kodomomuke (the Japanese equivalent of preschool shows).

The other thing distinct about Lyla in the Loop is its usage of AI.

No, this doesn't mean that the episodes are AI-generated. Instead, there will be a few AI-ASSISTED interactive episodes, which use AI to have the characters respond to the viewer. I'm guessing it's like Dora but without the long pauses.

Quote The Hollywood Reporter:

"Alongside Lyla in the Loop‘s linear release on PBS, producers plan to concurrently release interactive episodes that incorporate AI-assisted conversation between audiences and the show’s titular character in the future. It’s a new use of algorithms for PBS Kids, which has previously used responsive AI to help design games focused on improving learning outcomes for children, and supporting parents and educators in identifying the best approaches to children learning and building skills through media."

This caused a bit of controversy online, due to AI itself being a hotly debated topic. That, and the AI-assisted conversations could easily be targeted by bad-faith actors, who could say inappropriate or offensive things into the microphone.

PBS is one of the last wholesome things left in the world along with libraries, so to see them hop on the AI trend is very disappointing. And it's also disappointing that AI is going to taint what could otherwise be a very cute show about a Black family. It's for this reason that I won't watch Lyla.

I mean, I'm an adult, so I'm already not in PBS' target audience, but I like many of their shows because they are still entertainting for older audiences, or just sweet and wholesome to watch. It's not that I'm demanding that Lyla appeal to specifically me, it's just that I don't want to waste my time on a show that uses AI. That's all I have to say about that. And this goes double for season 2 of Elinor Wonders Why, which is also set to feature AI-assisted episodes.

At least I have new episodes of Molly of Denali, Xavier Riddle, and Wombats to look forward to.