Robots and Alone together

The movies we watched in class  were very similar to some of the concepts covered in Turkle's book "Alone Together" in several ways.

Mainly, idea of robots being used as companions was covered in some of the movies. One, where peoples' consciences is uploaded to a mega databases after their death, and another, where a couple applying for adoption had to train with a robotic baby. The other movie that really struck me was the one where robot "people" were made to do work in office  buildings and it touched on the idea of artificial intelligence.
Yes, it seems like a good idea to train people who want kids on a robotic child first, however, what if people eventually decide they don't want kids, and only have robots as "pets" or even full fledged family members? It would be very convenient. You don't have to pay for them to go to school or college, and they can do work around the house, such as cooking, cleaning, and maintenance. You won't even have to deal with emotional maturation, as they can simply be programmed to be whatever you want. Something about that just doesn't  sit right with me.
The idea of a synthetic afterlife MAY seem like a good idea at first, as you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, and lead whatever sort of life you wish you could have in the first place. HOWEVER. If everyone's conscience is uploaded to this mega database, then there wont be any need for more humans, as the collective knowledge will keep growing as the next couple generations will eventually be uploaded onto it anyway. Why create more people when all the jobs that need doing can be done by people in a synthetic afterlife? The only living people needed alive would simply be people to maintain the machines themselves.
The idea of robots gaining artificial intelligence and emotions seems kind've wild, but its not too far off. Robots will eventually "learn" in some sense to adapt to their environment based on their experiences, maybe learning vocabulary, or through facial recognition. Eventually, they may even start to mimic other human activity. Again, although it sounds crazy, its a very interesting and equally scary thought.