Jibo the robot swivels around when it hears its name and tilts its touchscreen face upward, expectantly. “I am a robot, but I am not just a machine,” it says. “I have a heart. Well, not a real heart. But feelings. Well, not human feelings. You know what I mean.” Actually, I’m not sure we do. And that’s what unsettles me about the wave of “sociable robots” that are coming online. [...] So, before adding a sociable robot to the holiday gift list, parents may want to pause to consider what they would be inviting into their homes. These machines are seductive and offer the wrong payoff: the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship, the illusion of connection without the reciprocity of a mutual relationship. And interacting with these empathy machines may get in the way of children’s ability to develop a capacity for empathy themselves. [...] <https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/why-these-friendly-robots-cant-be-goo...>