“Uncanny Valley” is the word that describes the range in which robots or figures go from being obvious caricatures of real life to hyper realistic portrayals of people that are still notably not real people in a way that is unsettling. Rose Eveleth an American science writer discusses “uncanny valley” in her essay “Robots: Is the Uncanny Valley Real?”. Researchers are beginning to question whether or not uncanny valley exists and have been conducting new experiments in an attempt to find answers, but are having difficulty because uncanny valley is an inherently vague concept based on people’s feelings. Some studies say that uncanny valley doesn’t exist, but others suggest that there is some kind of dipping point in what humans tend to consider
Warrick, Patricia S. "Science Fiction Images of Computers and Robots." The Cybernetic Imagination. N.p.: The MIT, 1980. 53-79. Rpt. in Contemporary Lieterary Criticism. Ed. Jean C. Stine. Vol. 26. Detroit: Gale, 1983. 53-56. Print.
In order to discuss the literature of the uncanny we must first be able to define "uncanny", and trying to grasp a firm understanding of the term "uncanny" is problematic; since as accepted reference works such as the Oxford English Dictionary filter down into popular culture the meaning subtly alters, or becomes drawn towards only one aspect of what was originally a much broader definition. To illustrate this, the Oxford Complete Wordfinder, Reader's Digest (1999), defines: "uncanny adj. seemingly supernatural; mysterious * see EERIE" and my word-processor contributes:
Joan Gordon’s lecture titled “Down in the Uncanny Valley with Monsters, Hopeful and Otherwise” concerned itself with the human/animal interface. I enjoyed the lecture and was glad to have to opportunity to hear Gordon speak on a subject I previously had limited knowledge about. Gordon seemed to be unsure of the future regarding the amborg, at a crossroad between optimism and discouragement.
People love to read stories and watch movies of a science-fictional society that include robots with artificial intelligence. People are intrigued with the ability of the robots that seem to demonstrate what we humans consider morality. Eando Binder’s and Isaac Asimov’s short stories, as well as the 2004 Hollywood movie, all carry the title “I, Robot” and introduce possible futuristic worlds where robots are created and integrated within society. These stories challenge our perceptions about robots themselves, and could perhaps become an everyday commodity, or even valued assistants to human society. The different generations of “I, Robot” seem to set out the principles of robot behavior and showcase robots to people in both different and similar ways. How does the Robot view itself? More importantly, how does society judge these creations? The concepts discussed in these three stories covers almost 75 years of storytelling. Why has this theme stayed so relevant for so long?
"Once the first powerful machine, with an intelligence similar to that of a human, is switched on, we will most likely not get the opportunity to switch it back off again. " Although Asimov provided us with 'rules' for robots, this quote embodies the unspoken fear of AI. Once we create a being that cannot be defined as wholly biological or mechanical, how will we determine ...
According to Freud, "the uncanny is that class of the frightening which leads back to what is known of old and long familiar. (Freud 220) In other words, the uncanny can be expressed by "the distinction between imagination and reality is effaced" (Freud 244) and "an actual repression of some content thought and a return of this repressed content" (Freud 220). Moreover, he posits the uncanny moment as one in which two ostensibly opposing figures, elements, or definitions appear to coalesce, or in which one is mistaken for the other, revealing the fundamental instability of their distinction. (Alison 32) Besides, it involves the infantile complexes which was formerly repressed but are later revived and gen...
A major falling point of robots and machines when placed in a human’s position is that robots cannot improvise. Robots can only do what they are programmed to do. if Damasio is right, emotions are ‘improvised’ by the human brain even before someone is conscious of what they are feeling. Therefore it is even harder to make machines feel true emotions. An example of this exists in Ray Bradbury’s short story “August 2026.” A completely automated house survives after nuclear warfare has devastated the Earth. Cheerful voices go on announcing schedules and birth dates, the stove prepares steaming hot food right on time, and robotic mice keep the house spotless and free of dust- in eerie contrast to the barren and destroyed city surrounding it. The house lets nothing in, closing its shutters even to birds, but lets in a sick and famished stray dog, which limps into the house and dies. The robotic mice think nothing of the dead dog but a mess that needed cleaning up: “Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an electrical wind. Two-fifteen. The dog was gone. In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.” The house, seeming so cheerful, caring for its attendants, has no compassion or reverence for the dog. The mice were programmed to clean up messes, and nothing beyond. This is why in science
The word “uncanny” has no singular, correct definition to it. It could mean a multitude of things and can be achieved through various techniques outlined by Sigmund Freud. In volume XVII of The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Freud gives many definitions of the word “uncanny” and writes the various mechanisms to achieve an uncanny effect. One such mechanism occurs when the imaginary becomes reality. This technique is showcased in the movie Inception made in 2010 and directed by Christopher Nolan. By blurring the lines between imagination and reality, Nolan is able to pique the viewer’s interests, which causes them to become more invested into the movie.
6. Aleksander, Igor, and Piers Burnett. REINVENTING MAN: The Robot Becomes Reality. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983. p 25.
Before continuing with the analysis of this topic, I would like to clarify and define the meaning of the word "uncanny" in the way I understand it. This word comes from the German Unheimlich, which means "uncomely", unfamiliar, uncomfortable, uneasy, and at the same time gloomy, ghastly, demonic and gruesome. According to Freud, this word justifies the need of a special conceptual term, which is to express certain things that lie in the field of what is frightening but at the same time leads back to what is known of old and familiar. Freud, however, argues that the "uncanny" is frightening precisely because it is not known and familiar. .
Bar-Cohen, Y. (2009). The coming robot revolution expectations and fears about emerging intelligent, humanlike machines. Springer.
“Man is a robot with defects,” (Emile Cioran, The Trouble With Being Born). Humans' are not perfect, but we seem to strive for perfection, so who is to say that in the future robots will not out number the human race on Earth? In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the character Data is very much a robot and not human, being composed of inorganic materials but designed with a human appearance (an android), but does that make it just a robot? In the show it is proposed that for one to be a sentient being and a person they must possess three qualities, intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. In accordance to these three conditions it is obvious that the character Data is in fact a sentient being with the qualities of being a person.
Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI, allows a machine to function as if the machine has the capability to think like a human. While we are not expecting any hovering cars anytime soon, artificial intelligence is projected to have a major impact on the labor force and will likely replace about half the workforce in the United States in the decades to come. The research in artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly at an unstoppable rate. So while many people feel threatened by the possibility of a robot taking over their job, computer scientists actually propose that robots would benefit a country’s efficiency of production, allowing individuals to reap the benefits of the robots. For the advantage of all, researchers and analysts have begun to mend the past ideas of human-robot interaction. They have pulled inspiration from literary works of Isaac Asimov whom many saw as the first roboticist ahead of his time, and have also gotten ideas of scholarly research done by expert analysts. These efforts have began to create an idea of a work force where humans and robots work together in harmony, on a daily basis.
The notion of the 'uncanny' is reoccurant in Horrors, the idea that something familiar has been altered in such an unsettling way that the audience garners discomfort. The use is particularly effective in film as the fear of the uncanny is so dissimilar to tradition notions of
A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a Steven Spielberg science fiction drama film, which tells the story of a younger generation robot, David, who yearns for his human mother’s love. David’s character stimulates the mind-body question. What is the connection between our “minds” and our bodies? It is apparent that we are personified entities, but also, that we embrace “more” than just our bodies. “Human persons are physical, embodied beings and an important feature of God’s intended design for human life” (Cortez, 70).