Interaction Studies 11:2 (2010), –. doi 10.1075/is.11.2.20sha issn 1572–0373 / e-issn 1572–0381 © John Benjamins Publishing Company Robot nannies get a wheel in the door A response to the commentaries Noel Sharkey & Amanda Sharkey University of Shefeld, UK “We are right and all of the commentators are wrong”, would be one approach to the commentaries. But our aim was to open a conversation among research- ers from diferent cognizant disciplines related to robotics, childcare and society about the ethical dangers of raising children with robots. We wished to test our ideas and learn from a range of expertise diferent from our own. In this sense, the range of commentaries represents success. We are caught in the middle ground with a cluster of authors sharing similar positions surrounded by extremes on both sides. We are seen as both alarmist and too conservative in our concerns. We do not agree with all of the opinions but we fnd value in all of the commentaries. Some misunderstood or missed the points we made, some we think make errors of judgment and some caricature our arguments with disregard for the fne print. Tese receive a robust defence and perhaps a little too much of the space. All of the commentators are right some of the time but none is right all of the time. We freely admit that much of what we said about the future development of robot technology is based on our own (conservative) extrapolation from what is cur- rently available. Tere is little disagreement about our projections in the commentar- ies that robots have insufcient capability to be adequate nanny substitutes into the forseeable future – even from those who disagree about other issues. We are looking at a 5 to 15 year window into the future but make it clear that we can’t be precise with the time estimates. Tat is a trap that many in AI and robotics have fallen into in the past. Many predictions made in the past have been out by a few decades and we are still waiting for more to come in. One can never be sure what breakthroughs in technology will accelerate or inhibit some of the expected developments. Te commentaries have not changed our opinions about the coming of robot nannies except that, if anything, they have strengthened our view that they will come – although we sincerely hope that we are wrong. We have amended our views about how the robot nanny will get its wheel in the door and our views about potential psychological damage have been broadened. We also take on board new ideas about regulation, over-regulation and developing robot literacy.