Can We Be Friends with Robots?

To determine how close humans and robots can become, we need a clear understanding of what, exactly, friendship is, and defining friendship isn't easy. Our friendships are made, maintained, and repaired all the time. Hopefully, we all have friends and believe, deep in our hearts, that the one ship that won't sink is friendship. Although friendship plays such a profound role in our lives that research links it to both emotional and physical well-being, people disagree about what makes friendship special and how far the bonds can go. Can we be friends with people who do things we find unconscionable?