Attachment, as in, like, a vacuum.

The concept of a robotic pet creeps me out. It may be unreasonable that it creeps me out as much as it does, but I can't help it if the image of a woman snuggling up and petting her pet "Peeky" gives me an uncomfortable chill. SF GATE ran THIS article today about such robo-pets, reactions to them, and people's attachments. Sure, there are perks, like no fuss no muss, no feeding (although it simulates eating a leaf, the preferred food choice of small dinosaurs), and it won't, well, die. Actually, it may die, but can be miraculously revived by the insertion of two AAs.

There are so many sci-fi induced places you could go with this -- The Jetsons, Terminator, A-I (god save us), buffybot, and, more recently, Cylons -- and the same issue always comes up. Can the robots feel? Can they develop attachment? It seems sad to me that some people think these small robots can actually provide affection...

Novel, yes. Amusing? Possibly. Providing some form of companionship for people who may really need it? Sure...but in a creepy way.