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Replace Aibo with a real dog in your text and you could claim the same - practically, having a dog (in the city) also makes little logical sense. Still, people

Replace Aibo with a real dog in your text and you could claim the same - practically, having a dog (in the city) also makes little logical sense. Still, people have them

product50 9y ago
No - dogs are a great companion and there is a lot of affection involved. OP's comment specifically called that out.
- Johnny555 9y ago
  Just because he ruled it out doesn't mean that it's not a factor. People become attached to lots of inanimate items, and can feel emphathy for robots [1] [2], though perhaps not as strongly as with living creatures. US Military soldiers can develop an emotional connection with bomb disposal robots. [3] I definitely sympathize with this dog-like robot slipping on ice: https://youtu.be/W1czBcnX1Ww?t=1m23s https://youtu.be/W1czBcnX1Ww?t=1m23s Even though it's clearly a robot with no attempt to make it look or act like a dog. I can definitely believe that people can become attached, even fall in love with, their robot dogs. [1] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/human-empathy-for-robots_us_5637c43ee4b0c66bae5d5779 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/human-empathy-for-robot... [2] http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/02/robot_human_interaction_should_we_feel_empathy_for_abused_machines_video.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/02/robot_hum... [3] https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/soldiers-can-get-emotionally-attached-to-robots-and-that-may-not-be-a-good-thing https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots...
vortico 9y ago
I wouldn't be able to claim the same, because normal humans can obviously love dogs, while normal humans cannot love Aibo. Therefore it makes perfect sense to own a dog, even if the other points (MP3 player) are irrelevant.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > while normal humans cannot love Aibo. Assumes facts not in evidence.
  - vortico 9y ago
    I should state it more generally. There are many meanings of the word "love", but normal humans cannot love inanimate objects with the same meaning as you can with dogs or other humans. You can of course "love" objects and concepts, much like I could "love my new car", but this is a different meaning, and mixing these two fundamentally different concepts is psychologically/mentally abnormal.
    - dingo_bat 9y ago
      > normal humans cannot love inanimate objects with the same meaning as you can with dogs or other humans I'm not sure that's true. Many "normal" people love their cars as much as some people love their dogs.
    - yorwba 9y ago
      Have you considered that it is you who is abnormal? I don't mean that as an attack. Personally, I'm fairly certain that I'm incapable of feeling love as normal people do, I never take the initiative to meet up with someone and I certainly don't do small talk with strangers. But I'm aware, that in this regard, I'm different from most people. Now, think about stuffed animals and dolls. Those are inanimate; most of the time highly stylized compared to their real-world inspirations; with exaggerated, unnatural features. And yet children will play with them, love them, and steadfastly claim that they are alive. That doesn't seem abnormal to me, but instead a very human thing to do. We just seem to be wired to interpret objects as if they have agency, even if it's just randomness or a simple mechanism that makes them move.
      - vortico 9y ago
        That is a good point. The love that children have for inanimate toys like dolls may be similar to the love for humans or animals. I too had these supports as a child. But by age 8 or so, the attraction fades away after realizing that the emotional support that objects give is insufficient. So I may be wrong about it being a completely intrinsic trait---maybe the ability to see a difference of these types of love is learned. But either way, Aibo doesn't seem marketed to children, as all of the videos feature adults using them. Maybe they are marketing to those who have or are willing to "unlearn" this distinction, so I think it will be a hard sell to people who have not considered this already, which seems rare.

Replace Aibo with a real dog in your text and you could claim the same - practically, having a dog (in the city) also makes little logical sense. Still, people have them

product50 9y ago

No - dogs are a great companion and there is a lot of affection involved. OP's comment specifically called that out.

Johnny555 9y ago
Just because he ruled it out doesn't mean that it's not a factor. People become attached to lots of inanimate items, and can feel emphathy for robots [1] [2], though perhaps not as strongly as with living creatures. US Military soldiers can develop an emotional connection with bomb disposal robots. [3] I definitely sympathize with this dog-like robot slipping on ice: https://youtu.be/W1czBcnX1Ww?t=1m23s https://youtu.be/W1czBcnX1Ww?t=1m23s Even though it's clearly a robot with no attempt to make it look or act like a dog. I can definitely believe that people can become attached, even fall in love with, their robot dogs. [1] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/human-empathy-for-robots_us_5637c43ee4b0c66bae5d5779 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/human-empathy-for-robot... [2] http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/02/robot_human_interaction_should_we_feel_empathy_for_abused_machines_video.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/02/robot_hum... [3] https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/soldiers-can-get-emotionally-attached-to-robots-and-that-may-not-be-a-good-thing https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots...

vortico 9y ago

I wouldn't be able to claim the same, because normal humans can obviously love dogs, while normal humans cannot love Aibo. Therefore it makes perfect sense to own a dog, even if the other points (MP3 player) are irrelevant.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> while normal humans cannot love Aibo. Assumes facts not in evidence.
- vortico 9y ago
  I should state it more generally. There are many meanings of the word "love", but normal humans cannot love inanimate objects with the same meaning as you can with dogs or other humans. You can of course "love" objects and concepts, much like I could "love my new car", but this is a different meaning, and mixing these two fundamentally different concepts is psychologically/mentally abnormal.
  - dingo_bat 9y ago
    > normal humans cannot love inanimate objects with the same meaning as you can with dogs or other humans I'm not sure that's true. Many "normal" people love their cars as much as some people love their dogs.
  - yorwba 9y ago
    Have you considered that it is you who is abnormal? I don't mean that as an attack. Personally, I'm fairly certain that I'm incapable of feeling love as normal people do, I never take the initiative to meet up with someone and I certainly don't do small talk with strangers. But I'm aware, that in this regard, I'm different from most people. Now, think about stuffed animals and dolls. Those are inanimate; most of the time highly stylized compared to their real-world inspirations; with exaggerated, unnatural features. And yet children will play with them, love them, and steadfastly claim that they are alive. That doesn't seem abnormal to me, but instead a very human thing to do. We just seem to be wired to interpret objects as if they have agency, even if it's just randomness or a simple mechanism that makes them move.
    - vortico 9y ago
      That is a good point. The love that children have for inanimate toys like dolls may be similar to the love for humans or animals. I too had these supports as a child. But by age 8 or so, the attraction fades away after realizing that the emotional support that objects give is insufficient. So I may be wrong about it being a completely intrinsic trait---maybe the ability to see a difference of these types of love is learned. But either way, Aibo doesn't seem marketed to children, as all of the videos feature adults using them. Maybe they are marketing to those who have or are willing to "unlearn" this distinction, so I think it will be a hard sell to people who have not considered this already, which seems rare.