The $300 Robo-Cat Won't Save Your Lonely Mother

Why gifting an AI companion to an aging parent is often just high-tech avoidance wrapped in a bow.

She is holding a plush, robotic golden retriever that whimpers when she pats its head. It cost $130 on Amazon, runs on four C batteries, and doesn't require walks or cleanups. To her well-meaning son in Denver, this synthetic puppy is a brilliant hack for his 78-year-old mother’s isolation. But watch her eyes when the batteries die: she isn't comforted, she's reminded that the only thing talking to her is a piece of plastic programmed by a 24-year-old engineer in California.

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