Where is my robot homie?
I grew up watching Wall-E. I also grew up watching R2D2. And Baymax. And Rosie from The Jetsons. And I loved all of them.
What makes them so lovable?
Beloved companions respond to how you're feeling.
Wall-E holds EVE's hand in the rain. C-3PO flails his golden arms in panic when R2D2 rolls into danger. R2D2 doesn't even speak English, but he beeps victoriously when they pull off the impossible. Baymax bandages Hiro up when he's hurt. Karen reboots Plankton's confidence when he's sulking. Rosie from The Jetsons tucks the kids in extra tight when they've had a bad day.
They do not wait for a command. They have situational awareness. They understand what to do when you’re feeling happy, or sad, or hungry, or scared. They worry about you.
Nobody is interested in bipedal humanoids that can walk around; what they are interested in is the promise of the general ability of these robots.
The world is building robots that do tasks. But we don't want task-doers. We want companions who understand how we're feeling and know what to do about it.