Why Do We Feel Empathy for Robots?: Catherine Thorbecke

It’s a scene from a futuristic nightmare: A robot dog thrashes and lunges toward me, held back only by a metal chain that hits the floor with a heavy thud each time it pounces. The harder it fights, the more it snarls itself in the links, a machine trapped by its own struggle. Beside it, an identical quadruped from Hangzhou Unitree Technology Co. lies motionless, like a dead friend.

This wasn’t a lab accident. It was an art exhibit on the 45th floor of the swanky Toranomon Hills Station Tower here in Tokyo. And despite the brute force of this ...