The need for attention from others is something that we as humans crave throughout our whole lives. It could be as a small child wanting to show something to our parents, as a teenager wanting to be listened to by adults, or as a grownup wanting to feel valued at work. We crave attention since it connects us to others, it makes us feel validated and reassured.

Robots do, in general, keep working on their assignments whether there is anyone nearby or not. This need for attention is not present in robots; they do not need an approving nod from a friend to have the courage to keep going. But what if this were not the case?

One example is the robot Cozmo, which recognizes you by face and that will ask you to play with it, it will also every once in a while make sure that you keep paying attention.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/cozmo-ai-robot-needs-your-9000885 

Then there is, of course, the tamagotchi and different robot pet toys that make sounds to catch your attention for different reasons.