Robot vs Human

Playing chess against robots scares the crap out of me in a certain - robots eventually taking over the planet sense.  I enjoy it though.  I like the idea of having a deep conversation with a machine through a chess game, but robots(software) are still boring entities.  It's a strange love/hate deal.  Playing with the Little Chess Partner is educational but for me chess is as much about playing someone's personality as it is their strategy.  Although, I often marvel at how easily the "Little Chess Partner" can kick my ass even when I'm well ahead of it in points.  Does anyone else feel the same? Or, should games played against the computer software be reflected in our ratings?

Also - does playing with real people through chess.com detract from the experience of playing on a real board - being able to watch your opponents mannerisms during the whole game?  This is the way I play poker and I can't help but think it can apply to chess to a certain extent as well.