ne morning in July 2025, I arrived in the small, quiet town of Albershausen in south west Germany. It has only around 4,000 inhabitants. I went to visit a care home where they were piloting a social robot named Emma. A group of residents sat in a circle while Emma stood in the middle. Shes the height of a toddler, with big googly eyes, and was wearing a red hat knitted for her by one of the careworkers. The first resident she was introduced to was called Peter and, after he introduced himself,...
