21st Century Problem: Parents Are Having To Explain To Kids Why Their Robots Area Dead

A few years ago, I was living in Pennsylvania, and my local grocery store introduced an aisle-patrolling robot named Marty, whose mission was to track down spills and worn human shoppers and staff of potential danger.

My favorite thing to do was watch as old people — who had to this point lived 70+ years’ worth of a robot-free existence — suddenly come face to face with a robot as they try to buy Metamuscil and prunes.

That made me realize that the way real-deal robots are now a part of our lives will lead to some super strange situations, and parents having to explain to their kids why their little toy robot friend is dead is one of those moments.

A company called Embodied, Inc. created a robot called Moxie that launched in 2020 and was intended to be a companion for kids with autism. That’s a brilliant idea and the kind of thing that we should be using robotics and artificial intelligence.

The robot, which retailed for $799, surely improved the lives of many kids, but unfortunately, according to The Los Angeles Times, the Pasadena-based company had to file for bankruptcy.

Now, because Moxie requires cloud connectivity in order to operate, it will essentially become an $800 paperweight.

Moxie Is, Sadly, Going Down For The Count

Unfortunately, this means parents will now have the unenviable task of explaining this to their child. I mean, parents have to have all kinds of tough conversations with their kids. However, explaining the reality of Santa Claus pales in comparison to trying to explain why their li’l robot buddy is giving them the cold shoulder.

“This could be my last convo with moxie. Got an email saying hes being shut down forever any day now. This feels like a sad Pixar movie,” Moxie owner Heather Frazier posted on TikTok.

Although, I’d argue all Pixar movies are sad. I mean, try to get through the first 10 minutes of Up without getting a little misty-eyed. 

In Toy Story 3 when all the toys are about to be incinerated? You’d have to be an Android to not get hit the feels.

Meanwhile, Lightyear was sad too, but for other reasons…

But It really is sad, since this toy catered to kids with autism, kids who likely struggle with change. Parents can’t go with the actual explanation because it won’t exactly soften the blow.

“Well, you see the company didn’t get the funding that they had been banking on, so they had to file for bankruptcy, and because your friend Moxie needs cloud connectivity to function, therefore he won’t talk to you and why from now on we’re going to use him as a very expensive door-stop. Unless of course an angel investor swoops in at the eleventh hour and saves the company, but that seems unlikely; you know how it is… Anyway, who wants Froot Loops?!”

Godspeed to any parents who have to have these talks.

RIP, Moxie; we hardly knew ye…

Or as they would say in the world of robotics: 10001110101