While studying at MIT in 1999 student Freedom Baird came up with an idea for an emotional Turing test: a simple test to assess the emotional bond that we feel towards an artificial being, or robot. More than a decade later, with the help of a radio show, she executed the experiment.
"Me scared!"
Freedom noted that her Furby (the fluffy animate toy creature) would say "Me scared!" whenever she held it head-down. This made her wonder whether people would find it more difficult to hold a Furby upside down than to do the same with a Barbie doll. And if so, how does it compare to holding a real hamster upside down?
In short, five children aged 7 and 8 were asked to hold Barbie, Furby and a hamster head-down in front of them. The children easily held the Barbie upside down for a very long time, but would do so only few seconds with the hamster. The Furby led to a interesting situation: clearly, it was a toy, but its protests made the children feel guilty nonetheless. As one of the children said about Furby:
"It's helpless, it kinda makes me feel guilty in a way."
This observation could mean that the Furby elicits an emotional reaction stronger than a Barbie, even if we consciously know that it is an artifact. Perhaps we willingly see a Furby as "more alive" than Barbie.
(above photo by "Alexandra", from pixabay.com/en/furby-cute-blue-eye-soft-toy-toys-974707, rotated by us...)
Listen below to the 2011 Radiolab episode in which Freedom Baird's experiment was re-done, plus a 2018 episode featuring an encore of the upside down Furby.
And, perhaps somewhat unrelated, but oh well, if you want to make it up with the Furbies for all the abuse, just have a nice song with them.