Pet Robots for Older Adults
Exploring Emotional Companionship and People Care in the Age of AI
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a local community center talk on The Benefits of Pet Robots for Older Adults by a representative of Capital Caring.
I’m currently signing up for everything related to aging and technology in my area. It’s like fieldwork. I often feel like an anthropologist observing not just the tech, but the people—and myself. In this session, I was also an active participant.
That morning, I’d asked Gemini to help me prep. I was especially curious about the difference (if any) between pet robots and companion robots, and how terms like “AI pets” and “artificial sociality” connect. Gemini delivered a 25-page report based on over 400 sources. Insightful? Not really. Useful? Absolutely. The sheer speed at which I could map the landscape of companion tech was remarkable.
I cared about the topic for three reasons:
1. I don’t have a pet and have little experience forming emotional bonds with animals—robotic or otherwise. I was skeptical. Curious. Was this kind of tech really meaningful, or just a stopgap for loneliness?
2. I’m preparing a conference talk on AI and older adults, and pet robots offer a vivid case study for themes like anthropomorphism, autonomy, and privacy.
3. In my speculative novel set in 2065, human-AI interaction is central. There wasn’t a pet robot in the draft—until now. The session gave me the perfect detail: a centenarian who keeps dead pet robots in his room, relics of emotional connections that outlived the devices.
Excerpt (2065)
“He kept three dead pet robots in his bedroom—dead, but not forgotten. That kind of attachment was typical of older folks who’d adopted pet robots.”
At the session, I even won a dog robot (photo). I have now donate it to Arlington Neighborhood Village, where I also volunteer to provide services to older adults who want to age in place.
The trivia question I answered correctly?
Q: What’s the first thing an older adult does when gifted a pet robot?
A: They give it a name.
Naming is the beginning of relationship. It’s also the first clue to how human-tech interaction is evolving—not just functionally, but emotionally.
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''People Care'' in the context of human-AI interaction starts here: We are shaping relationships with technology that mirror our needs for recognition, companionship, and control. Even if the “pet” is made of plastic and code, we still reach for connection.
As we age, these relationships may become more significant—not because the tech is “smart,” but because we are wired for meaning.
I’ll be exploring these shifts—between 2025 and 2065—in both nonfiction and fiction. If this resonates, consider subscribing to my creative writing Substack, *It’s all Connected*. I’ve been struggling to name the machines in my novel.