It’s hard to teach AI what is real

and what is not.

The Furbo thinks that

the picture of the dog

on the food bag is my dog.

I received alerts telling me that

my dog is sitting in a laundry basket

in the kitchen.

So I turned the bag around,

not noticing the smaller picture

of the same collie

on the back of the package.

Now Furbo tells me my dog

is sitting in a bag in the kitchen.

I want to tell it that’s not my dog

even though it’s in my house.

That’s not even the right breed of dog.

I feel like Lily Tomlin

trying to teach the aliens about

the difference between soup and art.

Or Magritte’s pipe.

The image is not the actual thing.

On the back of my phone

is a picture of my last dog.

Sometimes I talk to it

or kiss it

or rub it

or hold it against my chest.

It’s hard to teach the heart

what is real and what is not.