As hard and harsh as it may sound, no matter how much you may love your adorable smiley robot, they will never really be able to give that kind of love back to you.

There are even some stories out there about robot owners literally mourning the death of their robot. Jibo is one classic example, a smart home assistant that actually announced it’s own death right before it’s servers were set to be shut down. While this is all touching and endearing – it’s a tale-telling sign that the emotions of consumers could very easily be exploited.

This is especially true when it comes to young children. Robots could be programmed to be much more emotional than they really are capable of being.  Humans are ready to bond with anything that is willing to bond with them, regardless if it’s a robot. It’s a part of our nature.

So the next time your robot does something super cute or appears to have human emotion, be wary that it’s all just from a human written, human-made script. The robot cannot and will not ever be your real friend. Forming an emotional attachment to robots can result in some serious disappointment.