Creating pseudo alternatives to human/animal interaction using low effort robots on a planet with 7 billion people is absolutely absurd as a solution to the problem. Children are already starting to live life staring at rectangles half the day. It's one step above hypermedication of children that's rampant in the US

But it may be the only practical solution.

- Those billions are busy doing other things. There is a time problem.

- Even families don't care enough to visit their kids and elderly parents, so there isn't a lot of willingness to take significant action. There is a what people are willing to pay (in terms of time, money, and/or resources) problem.

- The scale of the problem is enormous and humans don't scale. Are there even enough sociable people you could hire in the USA for this?

It is yet another solution to a problem no one posited