PETA calls for Punxsutawney Phil to retire, be replaced with AI robot for Groundhog Day

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“When Phil is dragged out of his hole and held up to flashing lights and crowds, he has no idea what’s happening,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote. “Being relegated to a library ‘habitat’ for the other days of the year doesn’t allow him or the other groundhog there to dig, burrow, or forage. It’s no kind of life for these animals.”

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“An AI Phil would renew interest in Punxsutawney, generating a great deal of buzz, much like Sony’s robot dog ‘aibo,’ which walks, plays, misbehaves, and responds to commands,” Newkirk wrote.

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“By creating an AI Phil, you could keep Punxsutawney at the center of Groundhog Day but in a much more progressive way.”

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