Pets also doomed to be replaced by AI and bots...

[HomerS]

My late father had dementia and spent the last two years of his life in a memory care part of a nursing home.  He was a a dog lover (not to the extent I am, but a close second).  The nursing home said I could bring in my dogs to see him.  Bear (30 pounds pekanese/border collie couch potato) has the personality of the cute little fluffy dog.  I brought her into his room and the look of fear on his face one would have thought I brought in a wolverine!  It took some convincing, but I got him to let her lay with him in his bed and encouraged him to pet her.  The mind is a scary thing.  These things could be a case by case situation.

[89AKurt]

On 12/6/2025 at 1:54 PM, TarheelRick said:

I was also thinking 'pet rock' than another rather useless emotional item crossed my mind, the 'mood ring'. I may be stepping on some toes here, but another phenomenon that has taken over the country is 'service dogs'. I do realize the good they accomplish for the people who need them. My beef is with all these war-painted soccer moms who can't stand being away from "fifi" long enough to buy groceries and have to bring their dog into the store with them. 

Don't get me going about THAT!  A few years ago everyone was putting their fake "service dogs" in shopping carts.  This year met a guy who took the passenger seat out so his fake "service dog" that has no manners and was wanting to jump on me..... no thanks (other irk wanting to chat via war and peace texts).  I've been bitten 3 times, not into dogs.

When a CME makes a direct hit, those people will go first.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Although I could see down the road that AI pets may be possible it's going to take quite a while for that to happen. I've seen ads for so called AI pets and they are AI generated scams. When the technology becomes possible they will be extremely expensive to recover all of the development costs. AI currently is just a marketing buzz word.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

...AI currently is just a marketing buzz word.

AI is real, it exists, it's already disruptive, and most people have zero clue about its capabilities or how it works.

And it's NOT what most people seem to think it is, not by a long shot.

[rattle can man]

Someone I know's mother had dimentia and her dog died, so I've seen what they can go through. There are robot puppies and dogs, some look prety real. with appropriate development they could be very useful for tracking patient health, requesting assistance if they fall and locating missing patients (assuming they take them with them), etc.  Of course there is the nefarious side of spying on people.

[rattle can man]

And yes, for those with dementia/ other health it would be a case by case basis. the mind is a strange wonderous thing. some people fear animals, others need them by their side 24/7. Personally, I'm not a pet person, but I also try to avoid harming any creature and help them when I can.

[bobthehobbyguy]

3 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

AI is real, it exists, it's already disruptive, and most people have zero clue about its capabilities or how it works.

And it's NOT what most people seem to think it is, not by a long shot.

Yes I am aware that AI however it needs to be improved to make it useful.  

[Big Messer]

Will an AI powered bot still pee on the carpet?

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nah it'll just leak oil.

I've seen ads for the AI dogs and seen the reviews of what you get and they are definitely not as advertised.

[Ace-Garageguy]

46 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Nah it'll just leak oil.

I've seen ads for the AI dogs and seen the reviews of what you get and they are definitely not as advertised.

Kinda like those sea-monkeys and x-ray glasses way back when, huh?

     

Edited 17 hours ago by Ace-Garageguy