I can't remember when exactly, but I saw this (I think) when it first came out. At the time, and just now as I watched the video again, thought to myself, "What a lonely existence."

I've been aware of the missing generation, and I think there's some other factors in Japan that make human companionship more complicated, but the next thought after the first this time around was, "This isn't helping."

I've never personally experienced the overwhelming need to lock myself away from the world for a year, but I do know what it feels like to experience a lot of stress and some anxiety. At the age I am now, most of that is less than it has been.

We have an Echo and some Echo Dots that I bought for Christmas the previous year. I like the convenience of asking it questions, especially when I don't have a computer nearby to check what I want to know. I also like the fact that I can get the lights or the television turned on and off from across the room from a light switch or a remote.

But I don't think of the Echo as a companion. I don't think of it liking or disliking me. I think of it as another device, another step up in technology, one I've been looking forward to since the first science fiction book or movie where voice activation was a thing.

So, I guess I'm all for the idea of convenience, but the rest, the "knowing someone is waiting for me at home," thing. I guess it would interesting to know how many times having such an AI or robotic companion acts only as a fill gap until actual human companionship gets established, or if it only compounds the issue.