Dynamic Relationships, Turkle, and Robot Stories

In our reading, Turkle explores the effects of relational technologies that range from Furbies, to Nexi, and on to robots as romantic partners. One would think that the reaction to these robots would be negative, especially in terms of a romantic partner. However, it seems that humans are eager to find a partner to relate to, perhaps beginning with the innocent toy for a child. She explores how the Furby appears to be like a doll, except that instead of attaching through the psychology of projection, there is a “give-and-take” relationship. It is in this way that we as relational creatures form “relationships” with our machines. This is similar to the story in Robot Stories where a couple must learn to take care of a robot child before they are allowed to have a real one. The purpose of this is to practice parenting in order to prevent dysfunctional families. However, it is not the same as a real child. In contrast to Turkle, the message in “My Robot Baby” says that a mother would not be able to care for a robot child the way she would for a real one. Not only is there a biological bond missing, but it is not made of real flesh and blood. The robot's favoritism towards the father is quite an exaggeration; usually an infant would more readily attach to its mother, and therefore, a mother to her child. It is impossible for a woman to attach to a robot in the same way that she would attach to her own baby. Even though people may seem very eager to attach to their machines, I do not think that it is the same dynamic relationship which is possible between two human beings.