Childcare is the most intimate of activities. Evolution has generated drives so powerful that we will risk our lives to protect not only our own children, but quite often any child, and even the young of other species. Robots, by contrast, are products created by commercial entities with commercial goals, which may--and should--include the well-being of their customers, but will never be limited to such. Robots, corporations, and other legal or non-legal entities do not possess the instinctual nature of humans to care for the young--even if our anthropomorphic tendencies may prompt some children and adults to overlook this fact. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission.

As our population ages, these caregiver robots will also be useful for the old as well as the young. This is not a rhetorical question. So-called robot nannies are already a hit in Japan and China, and are now beginning to appear stateside. The numbers show why this is an attractive proposition. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4 million babies are born annually in the United States. What's more, 62% percent of women who gave birth within the last year work outside of the home, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Robots can do many things humans can do, often better. They mix cocktails, stand in for security guards and dispose of bombs. One thing we're sure they can never do better: care for our kids. They can't snuggle, kiss boo-boos or exhibit unconditional love, not like a mom or dad or child care worker can. But that didn't stop the makers of iPal from creating a creepy nanny robot that they're billing as a babysitter. It's a 3-foot-tall talking bot, complete with a surveillance cam, a touch screen tablet and tons of apps, you know, to keep your kid occupied and happy when you can't.

Zoltan Istvan is a futurist and 2016 U.S. Presidential candidate of the Transhumanist Party. That may dramatically change over the next 10 years as the "robot nanny" makes its way into our households. In as little time as a decade, affordable robots that can bottle-feed babies, change diapers and put a child to sleep might be here. The human-machine bond that a new generation of kids grows up with may be unbreakable. We may end up literally loving our machines almost like we do our mothers and fathers.