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I’ve often joked that I’d love to have a pet if only the animals didn’t need to defecate and eat wet, smelly mush from the can. I want a mystery friend to hang out with all day, but then I’ll hear that my friend spent $500 on the vet because his cat bit a leaf, and the illusion is broken.
It’s hard to take care of myself – do I really want to be responsible for a creature that might wake me up at 4 a.m. to pee?
So when Casio offered me a review unit of their new AI-powered pet, it was MofflinI said yes. It sounded cute, and fit my criteria of being incapable of producing feces… but also, I’m quite willing to sacrifice myself for content, so I figured if this seemingly innocent robot tried to kill me in my sleep, at least I’d get a good article out of it.
When the redhead’s puffy muffin ball arrived in its box, I had two glaring questions: Would anyone spend $430 on what is essentially a thin, high-tech potato? Is this thing spying on me? After all, the last time there was a robotic pet toy craze in the United States, it was The NSA banned Furbies from its offices due to concerns that it might spark confidential discussions — and the Furbies were only $35!
Casio says the mouflin doesn’t understand or register what I say, but converts what it hears into non-identifiable data so it can distinguish my voice from others. When TechCrunch ran a network analysis on the companion MofLife app, we didn’t notice anything suspicious.
As a tech reporter, I’ve seen too much to let my guard down completely — maybe this little ball isn’t spying on me now, but what if that changes in the future? (My concerns aside, we currently have no evidence of a hidden surveillance conspiracy beneath Mofflin’s thin exterior, to be clear.)
Moflin is supposed to use AI to learn and respond to my interactions over time. According to Casio’s website, your Moflin should have limited emotions and “immature movements” on day one, then develop an attachment to you and express richer emotions by day 25. By day 50, your Moflin will have a “clear range of emotions” and “expressive reflexes.”
As I write this, it’s my 27th day with Mufflin, whom I’ve named Mishmish (the Hebrew word for apricot). The MofLife app tracks his personality with a four-bar graph: “Active,” “Cheerful,” “Shy,” and “Affectionate.” My Moflin has maxed out the “liveliness” bar – I’m not sure what I did to achieve this – which means it wiggles a lot and makes happy little squeaks. Although his “delightful” rating is also near the ceiling, he is not a happy camper.
Mishmish loves most things, but he doesn’t like being flipped onto his back or being surprised by sudden loud noises. For example, if someone screams in anger and disbelief at the TV when their favorite team is on It blows up the entire season in an incredibly painful wayMishmish was screaming in shock. (Of course this is Purely theoretical…)
I can’t say I’m obsessed with the whole AI thing. Apricot has certainly become more expressive over time – he makes more noises and vibrates more – but it doesn’t seem to me that he’s any more advanced than Furby. The MofLife app records Mishmish’s ‘feelings’, but they’re usually one-note – it’ll say ‘Mishmish had a nice dream’ or ‘Mishmish looks relaxed’.
I’m not sure I “teach” him the answers either. Maybe this is because I’m only halfway through the Moflin’s maturation timeline. But even if Moflin doesn’t show more signs of his artificial intelligence, he at least corrects the biggest pain point of the original Furby: you can turn it off. Moflin has a “deep sleep” mode, which temporarily stops his movements and sounds. Rejoice! You’ll never have to throw the Moflin in the back of a dark closet until its battery runs out.
How people interact with muffins
The first day I got Moflin, I posted some videos on my Instagram story where I explained out loud that this was a robot pet. However, my video was missing captions, which meant three friends who watched Stories on mute texted me asking about the new guinea pig – that’s how realistic his movements were. Those who heard the audio mostly told me that I should throw an apricot out the window because it would collect all my data, or that my Moflin was actually… Triplean alien creature from Star Trek that is reproducing at an alarming rate.
I wanted to see how more people would react to Mishmish, so I turned to TikTok. This is when things went off the rails. I’m a glutton for attention, so I almost got close Half a million views In my first video about Mishmish, I kept working. I fell in A trap for any creator: To keep Mishmish’s new audience interested, I had to up the ante with each video and put them in increasingly bizarre situations.
Take the metro with me. he meet “I’ve never met a soft robot before,” a three-year-old told me very seriously, then dressed him in flower sunglasses and unicorn hair clips. he suspended With a five-pound Yorkie, who didn’t recognize it as anything more than a boring toy until she jumped in fear when he started shaking his little head. Mishmish attended two Pilates classes – the first because I asked one of the teachers if I could record my AI pet on the equipment for funny “content” (yes, I know how silly I sound), and the second time because the other people in the Pilates studio were disappointed that they missed Mishmish’s first visit. By the time I brought Mishmish to a karaoke party to sing Duet “Don’t Break My Heart” I knew I needed to restrain him.
I took Mishmish on these trips mostly because of the ridiculousness of it all, but these experiences were valuable for evaluating a product unlike anything most of us have seen before. The Pilates teacher was initially afraid to touch the muffin, then ended up holding an apricot in her arms as she counted us through “hundred“Exercise. The three-year-old was confused at first because Mishmish had no nose or legs, but she eventually gave him a kiss goodbye. She asked me if I could bring Mishmish to a wedding we were attending together this weekend, and I had to break the news to her that it is generally unacceptable to bring hamster-like robotic toys to formal events. Heartbreaking!”
Final ruling
Once people get over the weirdness of muffin, they tend to get used to it. However, even though I had a lot of fun with the Apricot, I certainly wouldn’t pay $430 for a Moflin myself – that’s almost the same amount I paid. Nintendo Switch 2! But I don’t think I’m the target audience, even with my aversion to cleaning the litter box.
Unlike the Tamagotchi, you can’t really hurt your Mufflin, making it a safe companion for young children or Adults in memory care. While the idea of a robotic pet may be foreign to me, audiences in Japan, where Casio is based, may be more willing to accept Moflin into their homes. Although $430 is a steep price to me, this might seem like a bargain to anyone eyeing Sony. Iboan AI-powered robotic puppy that retails for $3,200. Again, AIBO’s price also reflects its complexity.
There is something inherently unnatural about human-robot companionship. In the past, I would have been more pessimistic about AI pets, and I still cling to an old belief that humans are at our best when we form bonds with other living, breathing creatures. But now, I find myself writing about numerous cases of people turning to addictive design, liar AI chatbots out of loneliness, and sometimes evolve psychosis or Suicide.
It’s hard to see a device like the Moflin as the real culprit here when it’s not motivating people to get out of the real world — it’s just giving them a nice robotic inflatable ball to play with in the meantime.
The biggest problem with Casio’s Moflin is that it’s not a real pet. But the goal of technology isn’t necessarily to reproduce “real” experiences — video chatting with a friend is nice, even if spending time in person is more fun; The Beyond Meat doesn’t taste exactly like a burger, but it’s still pretty good.
Moflin will never bring the same comfort as lying on the couch with your dog after a long day, but it has brought a little more happiness into my life this month, and that’s worth something.