Person typing on a keyboard

Years ago, when I worked as a shopping writer, I was tasked with trying out a robot vacuum cleaner.

My new flatmate, squat and keen, seemed like a different species from its larger cousin Henry (who himself had been decorated with an anthropomorphic grin).

There was something so cute about the way it seemed to ‘learn’ the dimensions of our home, spinning around in earnest confusion when getting to know a tricky corner. I wrote at the time that it felt like we’d adopted a high-tech puppy.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that, when faced with one of those (far less charming) AI customer support bots companies increasingly sic on customers, I became one of the many people who thank and apologise to completely unfeeling bots.

This has proven costly. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said the electricity spent on our mannerly engagement with AI costs “tens of millions of dollars”.

I spoke to experts about whether “bonding” with bots has personal, as well as environmental and financial, costs too.

tens of millions of dollars well spent--you........

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