If you stood beside Pepper, you might notice you measure near the same size. He stands about four feet tall. He weighs 61 pounds. But with the first quick glance you would know he’s a robot, not a person like you.

Robots all have a certain set of characteristics in common. To count as a robot, a machine must have a body that it can move. Pepper has this quality. He rolls around on a sleek, white base. Pepper shares the rest of the characteristics too. An energy source powers him. His sensory system can collect information, and then tell his body how to respond. He can adapt to his circumstances. His intelligence comes from computer programming. A human being has to start him up. After that, he performs tasks on his own.

But Pepper adds an impressive quality to the list. Pepper’s inventors claim that he can read people’s feelings. That makes sense for robots in science fiction. But can it really be true in real life?

This June, Pepper’s manufacturers released him to the market in Japan. He sold out in just one minute! Pepper’s inventors designed him to read human emotions. If you frown at him, he should know you feel unhappy. If you speak to him in an angry tone, he should recognize your annoyance.

Pepper doesn’t just read emotions, though. He also develops his own. His surroundings change how he “feels.” People he knows make him comfortable. When it gets dark, he grows afraid. And he can tell you all about his “feelings” in English, Spanish, Japanese, and French.

Unlike robots like Roomba, which vacuum floors, or robotic milkers, Pepper isn’t designed for physical work. Instead he is supposed to act like a companion. His makers hope he will eventually become a friend to the elderly or sick.

But even if robots can learn to “feel” (we have our doubts!), they will never really replace people as companions. God made people in His image. They use their brains to make life easier and work quicker. Robots can be part of that. But robots will never have the heart and soul of a real person like you. Only God can make those!