>people enjoy the company of other living, breathing things
Can we say the same thing in the future? If a child is given a pet robot will they get bored of it like a toy or will they come to see it as a life long companion?
The likelihood is that industrialization will turn these toys into things that have short lifespans and are commonly replaced with new models, like phones. Children also have notoriously short attention spans. I think biological pets are more for the sanity of the parents than the children.
But these are things that you play with as opposed to what we hope to have in the future which is something that "plays with you". Aka a friend or a guardian of sorts.
