Can people fall in love with robots? Are we already forming attachments to robots?
Sharkey: I don’t know about falling in love. The data do show that children are definitely forming emotional attachments with robots, and they attribute mental states to them. But the answer to your question is that people fall in love with rubber dolls, and robots are an awful lot better than that. I don’t know. I mean, people say they fall in love with their car. But they don’t. CNN: Would you put your kids in the care of a robot? Sharkey: Certainly not. Under no circumstances. Because I don’t think robots can care for a kid. My kids have had a lot of exposure to robots throughout their life. They’ve attended a lot of robot competitions. But for robots to look after them, I think would be very bad for them. I wouldn’t mind robots enabling their education in a social circumstance, with a lot of other kids and teachers — and having fun with robots. But not actually sitting in the care of robots. I personally think it will create psychological damage. I’m not talking about a couple of
