New York (CNN Business) While standing next to Samsung's new softball-shaped robot Ballie at the CES tech show this week, a company spokesperson told me the personal assistant prototype may one day be able to roll over to me and call 911 if I've fallen down.

My dark-yet-immediate reaction was to wonder whether the newly-announced "artificial humans" from startup Neon a few booths over would be able to do the same. If no one else was around, could I lean on a somewhat realistic-looking avatar -- one I'd built a relationship, even a friendship, with -- to know when I'm in need of medical assistance?

much of the tech I'd seen at the annual electronics expo painted a dystopian picture of life alone. There was the cute an even cuter It was a bleak realization that somuch of the tech I'd seen at the annual electronics expo painted a dystopian picture of life alone. Therewas the cute robotic cat that responds to your commands andan even cuter toilet paper robot that delivers you a fresh roll when no one else is around to help. Meanwhile, the Lovot robot exists to give people hugs.

Technology has cultivated a reputation of isolation over the years: There's the image of the solitary coder working late in the office, the gamer who's forgotten to get off the couch for 12 straight hours and, more relatably, the millions of people who spend far too much time checking their smartphones rather than being present with those around them.

Some technology has given us a false sense of connection: Social media has encouraged us to hoard friends we'll never really engage with and covet interactions that are largely meaningless in the form of likes.

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