Upending the uncanny valley

Abstract

Although robotics researchers commonly contend that robots should not look too humanlike, many artforms have successfully depicted people and have come to be accepted as great and important works, with examples such as Rodin's Thinker, Mary Cassat's infants, and Disney's Abe Lincoln simulacrum. Extending this tradition to intelligent robotics, the authors have depicted late sci-fi writer Philip K Dick with an autonomous, intelligent android. In doing so, the authors aspire to bring robotic systems up to the level of great art, while using the technology as a mirror for examining human nature in social AI development and cognitive science experiments.