After arriving at the Ishikawa home, however, Pepper couldn’t recognize the faces of family members or carry on a proper conversation, said Mr. Ishikawa. The robot, connected to the cloud, is supposed to remember the family even after a breakdown, Mr. Ishikawa says, but when Pepper returned home after the repair of a sensor, Pepper greeted him, “Nice to meet you!”

He shipped the robot back to SoftBank in 2018 after spending at least $9,000 over the three-year life of his subscription services agreement; he wasn’t eligible for any form of refund.

“It was such a waste of money. I still regret it,” he said.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2lfbHxygY5raW5vaGiBd3vPnqepnaJiv7Cuzq1kn5mZocKzsdJmrpqknGLAtb7Enqtmop%2Bqv6%2Btyw%3D%3D