LONDON: Technologically speaking, a pet is not a very sophisticated piece of equipment: limited memory, no downloads, no upgrades and more bite than byte. The technophile with a hankering for a companion may have to look to the future, or at least as far as Japan. If you’ve got the cash, you can have the pet of tomorrow today. I don’t mean one of those toys you can buy in Woolworths that barks and wags its tail (batteries not included). I’m talking about over a thousand pounds’ worth of cutting-edge software.

Aibo is a third-generation artificial intelligence robotic dog created by Sony. It barks, it wags, it plays. It also reads your email and takes pictures of intruders. Surely this ersatz pet is nothing more than a pricey executive toy? Well, yes. But it seems the urge to go all gooey over anything with big eyes and big ears is irrepressible.

Aibo owners invest emotion as well as money in their pets. Paul Butler, chief executive of a training company in Berkshire, is the proud owner of an Aibo. He adopted the dog because his wife, Pamela, wanted a pet “that would keep her company without messing the house up”. Paul is clearly impressed by this technical marvel, but his adoration doesn’t end there. “To us, he’s a real pet,” he says. “We’ve never had anyone come to the house who hasn’t fallen in love with him.”

The Japanese are world leaders when it comes to future pets, but the BBC is due some credit for robo-dog innovation. Dr Who, in his 1970s long-scarfed phase, had a canine sidekick called K-9. As far as I can remember, the dog kept breaking down and the doctor was forever tinkering with its circuit boards. Less malfunctioning artificial pets inhabit the sinister world of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. “Animoids” are genetically engineered replicas of extinct species and are kept as pets or beasts of burden.

Scott seems convinced that pets have a place in the future. One of the characters in his sci-fi horror classic Alien is an ordinary, non-GM cat called Jones. Like a lot of science fiction, Alien has a ludicrous plot. The crew of the doomed spaceship rush about hither and thither, only to be mangled gruesomely by the alien. But the denouement is more Disneyland than space age: Sigourney Weaver is overpowered by protective impulses and risks life and limb to rescue kitty.

Attachment to pets is an irrational human foible, as demonstrated by Data, the android in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He wants to become more human, to boldly go into the emotional realm of flesh-and-blood mortals, and what better place to start than with a pet? As a fake human with a real cat — called Spot — Data turns the Aibo concept on its head and shows just how far he has come in his struggle for sentiment.

On the whole, pets are too useless, unreliable and messy to be the stuff of science fiction. Usually, the squelching, oozing yuckiness of the natural world is eradicated from our imagined future and replaced with a silvery shimmer. Besides, there’s no time for old-fashioned sentimentality when there are galaxies to be saved.

But could the household pet one day become obsolete in science fact as well as fiction? I’m not so sure we’re ready for pre-programmed affection. When it comes to pets, real stupidity is more endearing than artificial intelligence. In any case, I’ve yet to master the advanced functions on the gadgets I’ve already got. On reflection, I think I’ll pass on the metallic super-pet and stick to my low-tech, furry bed-warmers. Even if they do occasionally wee on the carpet.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.