# Would you want a robotic pet cat or dog? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277 "2012-07-24T20:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/21 "2012-07-25T01:56:47Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I’ll take 8! > > This would be the perfect solution to curb backyard breeders. **And no veterinary care to pay for?** Sounds ideal to me. Wait until you see what the mechanic charges. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/22 "2012-07-25T02:30:04Z")
I might get one, but it would be more of a toy than a pet. Much of the fun of pets is knowing that there’s another sentient mind there; playing say fetch with a dog is more fun because the dog is clearly enjoying himself at least as much as you are. Now, if the robopet AI was good enough to actually be aware and have emotions, that would be another matter. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/23 "2012-07-25T03:52:22Z")
I think, even now, engineers could program a pseudo-pet to emulate animal behaviors well enough to pass a doggie “Turing Test.” I knew people who got seriously emotionally involved with their Tamagotchi pets – and not just stupid people, either. So, add the very best of current AI sim programming, to mechanical engineering advances in the next 50 years, and I think we could have robodogs that would comfortably accommodate our suspension of disbelief, if not our actual belief. It wouldn’t be good enough to fool us…but it would be good enough to make us feel good playing around with one. Cats, of course, are easier, since they never listen to anything other than the rustling of the food bag anyway. Easy peasy to program! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/24 "2012-07-25T04:10:43Z")
No. What’s the point? Although now you have me wondering if my cats would want a robot human… ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/25 "2012-07-25T04:16:10Z")
I would not want a robotic pet. That would be a _toy._ ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/26 "2012-07-25T04:56:07Z")
You guys know Sony made a robotic dog “Aibo” that had 3 generations, right? It’s no longer made ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/27 "2012-07-25T05:14:51Z")
Those Furreal friends pets are amazingly good. If I could not have a living pet in my home for some reason, I’d have one of those. Otherwise, I prefer the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![kob09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@kob09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kob09)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/28 "2012-07-25T05:26:52Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Owner of 6 dogs and 4 cats here - no. I have machines. I have pets. Machines aren’t pets. There’s no mutual affection, there’s no dependence. What’s the point? > > StG that pretty much sums it up.. There are enough machines around us already.. ---
**Author:** ![grama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@grama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/29 "2012-07-25T05:47:55Z")
I would love one actually, not having to worry about poop, food, water, etc…? and is otherwise indistinguishable from a real one? hell yeah, would be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/30 "2012-07-25T05:58:31Z")
Also, of course, it’s a very short jump from a robotic pet to a robotic sex toy… (Apologies if this is threadshitting.) I also have a toy replica of Bubo, the little mechanical owl from Clash of the Titans, but it’s only a static prop. (Toy owls are fun!) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/31 "2012-07-25T06:12:33Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I’d love to have a WALL-E. I’ve got one. > **[Wall-e keeps flipping me off](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=500365)** > > I got a remote control wall-e for Christmas. I’m a big fan of the movie and he’s a lot of fun. Now, being a toy with a limited number of motors, he has some limitations compared to the movie wall-e. For example, he only has one servo motor... I’ve also got an R2D2, a couple dozen wind-up robots (and a wind-up duck, chicken, crab, and bee) and a remote control spider. It’s fun to let R2D2 and Wall-e both go exploring in the living room, but they do occasionally run into each other (despite the fact that they both have collision avoidance systems). ETA: Of course I would want a robotic pet. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/32 "2012-07-25T06:23:47Z")
> [@grama](#): > > I would love one actually, not having to worry about poop, food, water, etc…? and is otherwise indistinguishable from a real one? hell yeah, would be awesome. The reason I love my dog is that I do have to invest in a certain amount of work to keep him happy and healthy. Feeding him, making sure he has enough water, yes, even dealing with his poop, which is minimal work, because he’s housebroken and I can just scoop it up from the yard, all require that I actively _think_ about his welfare instead of ignoring him unless I actually want to play with him. Yes, I know you could program a robot dog to seek you out for attention, but it just wouldn’t be the same. My dog needs me. A robot wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![kob09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@kob09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kob09)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/33 "2012-07-25T06:30:02Z")
pets are very important to child development. If you give a kid a pet dog the educational effect would not be the same at all… it’s about caring for someone weaker than you ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/34 "2012-07-25T06:31:24Z")
I’d want one, on condition that I was convinced it was ‘proper’ AI. Also, I’ want it to look like a robot. - a replicant dog doesn’t really interest me, but I’d love an Iron Chicken ---
**Author:** ![kob09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@kob09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kob09)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/35 "2012-07-25T06:38:02Z")
lol an iron chicken would be funny … can it be a guard chicken for the pen? kick foxes and such? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/36 "2012-07-25T07:51:08Z")
Alternatively, a realistic rendition of something fictional, mythical or extinct would be cool - a little dragon, or gryphon, or a some trilobites for the garden pond. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/37 "2012-07-25T10:09:04Z")
“Is he housebroken or will he be leaving little batteries all over the floor?” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/38 "2012-07-25T10:16:03Z")
… given that my canary loved '50s RnR, wouldn’t the really-really-really-oldies station already count as a robot canary? Ah, no: he warbled along but didn’t sing the lyrics. I would like to have a canary again, but a feathers-and-bones one (Groc sure didn’t seem to have a lot of flesh between the other two). Or a cat, but again: poop and all. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/39 "2012-07-25T10:24:10Z")
Having something programmable and robotic and deeming it a pet would be the same as having a vibrator and considering it your life-long partner. So, ah, that’d be a ‘no’ from me. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277/40 "2012-07-25T12:22:47Z")
Hell yes. I wouldn’t want a robotic cat, because cats are assholes, but a robotic dog? No allergens, no dying before me, just running around being awesome. Sign me up! ETA: I also want it to look robotic, all chrome and Tron lines. AWESOME. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-a-robotic-pet-cat-or-dog/629277.md?page=3)