The shelf · Pets, robots and AI companions

Does The New Breed hold up?

The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots, by Kate Darling (2021)

An MIT robot ethicist argues that robots should be understood on the model of animals, as partners rather than replacements for people.

The short answer

The bond is documented; the medals story is not.

Soldiers bond with bomb-disposal robots.

Holds University of Washington research by Julie Carpenter documents soldiers naming robots and treating them as an extension of themselves.

Lost robots were given medals.

Does not hold On the record found, the story rests on an anonymous online post; no military record was found.