The Uncanny Valley Theory suggests that as robots become more human-like, people become more attracted to them until they become almost human, causing fear or revulsion. The theory was proposed by Masahiro Mori in 1970 and may have an evolutionary basis. Some science fiction authors have played on the idea of creepy quasi-humans. Robotics developers often design robots with clear robotic characteristics to avoid the Uncanny Valley effect, but some reject the theory.
The Uncanny Valley Theory is an idea advocated by some people who specialize in robotics. According to the theory, the more human a robot becomes, the more people are attracted to it, until it crosses a line and becomes almost human, prompting a response of fear, horror, or revulsion. According to proponents of this theory, applications of robots may be limited by this response. However, this theory is not universally accepted and more research is definitely needed.
The theory was proposed by Masahiro Mori, a Japanese robotics expert, in 1970. He referred to the idea that one day robots would probably bear an uncanny resemblance to humans and that this resemblance might make people feel uncomfortable or upset when interacting with such a robot. The idea is that in a robot that is nearly human, non-human traits become blatantly evident, creating cognitive dissonance in humans interacting with the robot. Conversely, in a robot that is clearly a robot, human-like features such as arms or eyes are seen as endearing.
The “valley” in the Uncanny Valley theory is the supposed dip in a graph that plots human responses to robots. Studies have suggested that this valley also appears in visual graphs of the response to other humans when they become ill or seriously ill; people seem to respond to people who are dying the same way they might respond to near-human robots, in other words. In human-human interactions, the fear and revulsion response appears to be nearly universal, suggesting it may have an evolutionary basis, and proponents of the theory suggest the same may be at work in human-robot interactions.
Robots are certainly a topic of interest to many people, if the popularity of robots in sci-fi movies and TV shows is any indicator. Extremely realistic robots are depicted in a wide variety of ways in science fiction, with some stories suggesting that robots will become evil, while others indicate that robots will simply be another technological tool for human use. In acknowledgment of the Uncanny Valley theory, some science fiction authors have played on the idea of creepy quasi-humans in their work.
When robotics developers address the Uncanny Valley Theory in their work, they often do so by designing robots with clear robotic characteristics, with the goal of avoiding something that looks too human. Others in the field reject the Uncanny Valley Theory idea, arguing that people might fear robots because they are new and potentially very powerful, but not because of how they look or behave.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
