"And after my 4-year-old niece received the very hot Zhou-Zhou pet hamster for Christmas, I pointed out that the toy was essentially a robot, with some basic obstacle avoidance skills. She replied matter-of-factly: “It’s not a robot. It’s a pet.”"

That's so sad it isn't funny.

If someone would give my kid a robotic hamster it would go in to the trash faster than you could blink.

My kid has a real-life dog and I can assure you that it is the better choice.

I'm sure it's less convenient, you can't shut it down, you need to take care of it but that's exactly why it is better.

Life doesn't come with an on/off switch and children need to interact with real live beings in order to learn valuable lessons that no battery operated simulacrum/surrogate can provide.