Courtesy of family
Sophie Kuperwasser-Gupta with her robot pet Chip
Sophie Kuperwasser-Gupta got her dog Chip six years ago. Now 10, Sophie still loves playing with him at home in Massachusetts. She tells him to do tricks, like a handstand.
Doing that trick is just one way Chip is different from other dogs. He also has wheels instead of paws. And he never drools. That’s because Chip is a robot! Sophie controls him with voice commands and an app.
“He always finds ways to amuse me,” she says.
Many newer robot pets have artificial intelligence (AI). That means the machines can think, learn, and act like a human or a pet.
One popular AI pet is a dog named Aibo. The robot learns new behaviors as its owners interact with it.
Some people say robots like this bring the same joy as real animals. But many people think robots can never replace living things.