some robot to watch over me

The creepiness factor here is just about immeasurable.

The teddy bear sitting in the corner of the child's room might look normal, until his head starts following the kid around, using a face recognition program.

Next, the stuffed animal might actually call out the child's name or record his every move in a digital diary - perhaps maintaining for posterity a child's first words, or maybe just giving a parent an idea of whether the youngster is eating too much junk food.

I can tell you this: if I'm a five-year-old with any sense of human dignity, that robot kibitzer better know the Third Law.