Robot Dogs Are Not Immortal

[Pyrrho]

The thing is, these dogs are from 1999, when A.I. was barely even in the fledgling stage.  How developed could this A.I. have been that people could get so attached?

It just needs to simulate a dog's behavior, not the behavior of a genius.  As for how good it is, I have no idea, as I have never so much as seen one in real life.  But given the cost at the time, it could include a processing chip like in one of the best personal computers of that time, with it all devoted to dog behavior instead of running the usual programs for a personal computer.  But I have no idea what processing chip they used or found necessary for the relevant task.


Edited to add:

I see now that there is a wikipedia article on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIBO

They kept upgrading it over the years, so not all of them are simply 1999 technology.  Also:

In 2006, AIBO was added into Carnegie Mellon University's "Robot Hall of Fame" with the description "the Sony AIBO represents the most sophisticated product ever offered in the consumer robot marketplace."

So, apparently, it was as good as you could get.