Machine Society

Machine Society

New Attachment Economy hardware lives on your desk

The desktop robots are coming, and they want more than just your attention.

Mike Elgan's avatar
Mike Elgan
Mar 03, 2026
∙ Paid

We’re on the brink of a new phase in the Attention Economy. It’s called the Attachment Economy. The mere grabbing of attention is no longer sufficient. Companies now see an opportunity to use AI to enhance their chatbots and robots with “personality” designed to capture our emotions and make us feel “attached.”

We’ve already seen a new generation of onli…

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