The Intern Diaries: Robot Love in Japan

Dateline reporter Dean Cornish discusses travelling to Japan to report on the country's love of robots, with Dateline intern Samuel Yang.

Reporter Dean Cornish with a humanoid robot. Source: SBS Dateline

Producer Joel Tozer and reporter Dean Cornish’s recent Dateline story takes us to Japan, where cci-fi is becoming a reality.

Robots are now a part of everyday life - they are companions, co-workers, pets and even lovers.

Dean says he was surprised to find people who were so willing to open up about their private lives with robots.

“They were really hospitable and very easy to talk to," he says. "They love their robots so much and they are happy to share.”

Filming in a sex shop opened Dean’s eyes to the kinds of relationships people are having with inanimate objects. “We heard from the people around the store, some of the customers have almost relationship-like feelings with a sex doll.’

But what surprised Dean the most was when engineer Hiroshi Ishiguro, who invented the world’s most advanced ultra-intelligent android, spoke about getting plastic surgery to look more like his clone robot.

“That just blew me away, what dedication to the cause."

“His robot is 8 years old now, so he had to do something to keep himself looking similar.”

Listen to Dean's chat with Dateline intern Samuel Yang here:

Watch Dean's full story here: