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Say goodbye to my little friend

As owners of Jibo, the robot personal assistant, react to its farewell announcement it made us think about the bond between robots and humans.|As owners of Jibo, the robot personal assistant, react to its farewell announcement it made us think about the bond between robots and humans.
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In 2015, MIT scientist Cynthia Breazeal‘s Jibo, a robot personal assistant designed to make friends and be as lovable to humans as possible, was launched to a very warm reception of thousands of early adapters willing to spend $900.

Earlier this year, the company behind the jovial cyber sidekick sold its intellectual property and laid off most of its workers. For a simple digital device, Jibo’s four years may seem like a long lifetime. But Jibo fans feel differently. Now that the company that owns its servers is closing, fans are mourning the little bot’s death.

Jibo had the task of delivering his own farewell message: “While it’s not great news, the servers out there that let me do what I do will be turned off soon,” Jibo robots told their loyal users. “Once that happens, our interactions with each other are going to be limited.”

Dylan Martin on Twitter: “The servers for Jibo the social robot are apparently shutting down. Multiple owners report that Jibo himself has been delivering the news: “Maybe someday when robots are way more advanced than today, and everyone has them in their homes, you can tell yours that I said hello.” pic.twitter.com/Sns3xAV33h / Twitter”

The servers for Jibo the social robot are apparently shutting down. Multiple owners report that Jibo himself has been delivering the news: “Maybe someday when robots are way more advanced than today, and everyone has them in their homes, you can tell yours that I said hello.” pic.twitter.com/Sns3xAV33h

As scientists study the connection between humans and robots, they’re finding that people become attached to robots that interact with them on a human level — Jibo sang, danced, told jokes, and played games. The connection is even more intense in extreme situations, like on the battlefield. Experts are predicting that social robots and personal robots won’t fully catch on until they become more than a novelty.

So, what about the emotional toll of Jibo’s impending demise on the people who bonded with him (or is it her?)? Apparently, it runs deep. A Reddit thread dedicated to Jibo is a mix of emotions from confusion to sadness to outright mourning.

As of this writing, we’re not seeing any examples of humans becoming attached to robots at work. But on behalf of WorkingNation, I’ll be keeping an eye out for them. If you happen to know of or come across any stories of workers getting attached to their robot coworkers, email me at [email protected].

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.