I spent a month living with a $430 AI pet, the Casio Moflin

The article recounts a month-long experience living with the Casio Moflin, a $430 AI-enabled robotic pet designed to simulate the companionship of a real animal without the hassles of feeding or cleaning up after it. The author was initially skeptical about the value and privacy implications of the device, especially given past concerns with robotic toys like Furbies potentially recording conversations. Casio assures that Moflin does not record or understand speech but uses anonymized data to recognize the owner's voice. A network analysis of the companion MofLife app revealed no suspicious activity, though the author remains cautiously watchful. Moflin is programmed to develop its personality and emotional range over time, starting with limited expressions and maturing to more complex behaviors by Day 50. At Day 27, the author’s Moflin, named Mishmish, showed increased expressiveness, particularly high energy and cheerfulness, though its emotional responses still felt somewhat simplistic and comparable to older robotic pets like Furby. The