Caution: You Are Now Entering the Uncanny Valley

Japan's Geminoid F

Could you trust an android? Would you feel comfortable interacting with one on a day to day basis? Will there be a time in the not so distant future that the world will see an android demographic? My mom hopes there won't be, that the sacredness of the human form will prevail into the future. I, on the other hand, think that the formation of an android population is inevitable, especially with countries like Japan already creating high functioning android specimens.

Japan's robotics community has created androids that are pretty damn close to looking realistic to the human form. They mimic facial expressions, blink their eyes and sync their lips with their speech. Renowned roboticist, Hiroshi Ishiguro, is responsible for creating one of the most realistic androids ever; Geminoid F. Geminoid F isn't only the most ultra realistic android to date, but it has also starred in a Tokyo play where it delivered dialogue and " interacted" with the cast. I watched youtube videos of Geminoid and other realistic humanoid androids and couldn't help but think about robotics professor Masahiro Mori's Uncanny Valley theory.

The Uncanny Valley theory states that the closer an android starts to look and act like us, the more repulsed we become. The idea that we have an innate repulsion to things mimicking human characteristics fascinates me. Why would we need such an innate mechanism of recognition that tells us That's not real, that actually kind of disgusts me? Was there a point in our evolution that required the development of such an instinct? I mean, it wasn't like robots and androids competed with us during mammoth season! Some scientists argue that this mechanism of dislike toward human mimicry holds its ties with early mate selection; subtle differences in physiology might have indicated genetic abnormalities. Whatever the reason, if there is ever an android demographic, I'd say they are in for a bumpy ride in terms of gaining human acceptance. Check out the video below explaining the Uncanny Valley theory and let me know what you think. Cheers!