I, Robot and the Uncanny Valley

Discussions of the movie I, Robot tend to focus on how Asimovy it really was (or wasn't). I was interested in another feature: how the uncanny valley was used in movie. This post talks a bit about what the uncanny valley is, how I, Robot used it and how that might relate to non-visual fiction.

** includes spoilers for I, Robot **

What Is The Uncanny Valley?

The uncanny valley is a theory about how people react to increasingly human-like things. The theory states that people become more emotionally positive to things as they become increasingly human. A lizard is more like a human than a turnip, so lizards get more warm fuzzy feelings. A monkey is more like a human than a lizard, so monkeys get more warm fuzzy feelings.

But just before something reaches being a full human, there's a drop in positive emotions towards it. This drop is the uncanny valley. It's the point where a thing stops looking endearingly humanised and starts looking freakily sub-human. Or the point where a human is no longer seen as human and drops into the valley (zombies are the classic speculative fiction example of that... still all human and rather uncanny).

Robot design is an area where this matters. Makers want to make their robots human-like enough to make people feel good about them, but not step too far and fall into the valley.

Uncanny = Evil

The main use of the uncanny valley in the film is to signify evil.

The old robots are humanoid, but they have a blockier build and clearly robotic faces. They're show behaving in sympathetic ways, such as robots in storage huddling together. These robots are at the positive peak. They show sympathetic, human-like features, without appearing to be too human.

The new robots are down there in the valley. They have human-like faces, realistic eyes and rounded limbs, yet don't look entirely human. Their voices are soft and more human-like than the old robots, yet also emotionless. The uncanny valley is telling you these robots are evil.

This is a pretty standard use of uncanny valleyness. It manipulates the audience into sympathising with the old robots and distrusting the new ones.

Why Don't The Future People Think They're Freaky?

Other than the protagonist, people trust the new robots. Even the protagonist doesn't think they look untrustworthy (not any more so than the old robots anyway). So why don't the future people think the robots are freaky?

One criticism of the uncanny valley is that it's culturally based. A person's experiences will change where (and possibly if) the valley exist. This is shown when humans drop into the valley.

Supposing you had a friend who didn't have hands. You have no problem perceiving your friend as being human. A stranger isn't used to your friend, and places him in the uncanny valley. The stranger's reactions are hostile and untrusting. This example is unfortunately not that hypothetical - people with obvious deformities, scarring and missing limbs can end up in the uncanny valley and are treated accordingly.

The important point is that you and the stranger have different thresholds for what's human and what's not. However, given time, the stranger will get to know the friend, and will stop seeing hands as a defining human feature*.

Back to robots, it's clear that a society's view on robot appearance could modify. What's uncanny at first may not be in a few generations time**. (On the other hand, it's possible there's a limit on what people would accept as human. As we have no evidence either way, a story could take either view***).

Why Do We Like Sonny?

Sonny is one of the uncanny robots. This is emphasised in his early appearances, by displaying almost human behaviour. He dreams and can draw, yet draws with precision with both hands at once. He'll fight to survive, yet does so with superhuman strength and agility. Unlike our friend with no hands, he's not displaying completely human behaviour. It's going to be difficult to overcome that feeling of uncanniness.

By the end of the film, Sonny is showing human understanding of things like loyalty, deception and the value of free choice. It's interesting that while watching the film, I have no trouble accepting Sonny, yet the screenshots still look creepy. Appearance may put a robot into the valley, but behaviour can pull them out of it.

This shouldn't be a surprise, as behaviour is the thing that tells you real humans are humans. Often a screen robot looks uncanny because its behaviour is a little off (this can also be true of 3D animated people... the audience picks up on tiny errors in the movement that betrays the fact it's a simulation).

How Do We Like Sonny?

This is a question that's hard to answer. When we take someone or something back out of the valley, what are we actually doing? Do we see them as...

• A human (whether they are or not). Any differences are accepted as normal human variation.
• Near-human. We may not have had a category for that before, but our brains start to realise there's a middle-ground between human and not.
• An exception. We'd still find others like them just as uncanny, but the individual is accepted.

In the case of the friend without hands, it's going to be the first one. We soon realise that hands were never a defining part of being human anyway. The friend behaves in an entirely human way, so it's not a difficult leap to make.

With Sonny, there's still a voice saying he isn't human. Whether we're seeing him in a near-human category, or he's just sneaking closer to be seen as fully human, is hard to say.

It would be fair to say that any one of those options could be realistic in a story.

Application to Fiction

Stories don't have the same visuals as films, but the ways character might react may be based on this principle.

One interesting issue is that it might means it's easier to accept a non-human robot as a sentient being with rights. The robot who falls in the valley has to overcome feelings of distrust - something an out-of-valley robot doesn't have to contend with.

The robot Asimo is a classic out-of-valley design. Roughly humanoid and able to move in a human-like way, but robotic enough that he doesn't fall in the valley. People react in a positive way to Asimo****, and this would obviously be a great advantage if Asimo were sentient and trying to gain rights. People wouldn't assume he was evil.

On the other hand, Sonny has an uphill struggle. It's interesting that the movie makers didn't try to make Sonny look outwardly friendlier than the other new robots. The viewer has to overcome their own prejudices to see Sonny as anything other than the bad guy.

Few robot stories deal with the potential issues of a robot facing discrimination for its appearance. Perhaps a new robot line would be a little too human-looking and not sell as well, so they face being dismantled for parts. Perhaps when it comes to choosing between believing the blocky robot and the almost-human one, a character might go with their instinct and chose the blocky robot (possibly with disastrous consequences).

The sort of cultural change needed to accept an almost-human robot as human (or as definitely not human, and not uncanny) would take a long time to reach. In the meantime, all those robots in the valley have a problem. It's odd that their problem doesn't appear in fiction as much as you might expect.

-

* This has some real world significance too, because it suggests that it's important for people to have experience of a wide range of people. If they don't, they run they risk of seeing other humans as non-human.

** In Doctor Who, Donna (a modern day woman) meets automated greeters at a library in the future. These greeters have human faces on them, to put patrons at ease. They're normal to the future people, but freaky to Donna.

*** Kryton, an android in Red Dwarf, has a blocky appearance. The crew discovers that earlier models look identical to humans. When asked why Kryton looks more primitive, he explains it's because humans didn't like their androids looking too human. Later models were made to look less human on purpose*****.

**** One example was the reaction to the Honda advert where Asimo moves through a museum. Some watchers were moved to tears, as it shows a very positive view of technology... a friendly robot reacting the way a human might to the museum exhibits. Few (if any) people thought "that robot looks like a mass murderer... I wouldn't let him near those gadgets".

The advert can be watched here. And just because it's fun, dancing robots!

***** Though the way people react to humans in costumes is always somewhat different. Data from Star Trek was made to look slightly not human, in both behaviour and appearance. Yet he didn't tend to set of people's uncanny valley alarm. He's a man in a costume and we know it.

-

Sonny photo is Copyright © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Used for review purposes.

Writing Diary: SFWA and Other Stuff

I often talk about vaguely related stuff in my writing diary, but not today... I actually have a fair bit to say about my writing stuff. Shocking I know.

Professional Stuff

Sometimes when things happen, they happen in a rush. That's certainly been the case this month. I signed the contract for Flash Fiction Online a few days before the story came out. I filled out an application to join SFWA* a few days later and that was approved in a day.

It's funny in a way, because I'd thought my tendency to write flash fiction would get in the way of joining SFWA. Most pro markets don't take it (or only take it once in a blue moon). Maybe this is the world's way of telling me it's okay to write short.

Needless to say, this was one of my milestones. The next is trying to get a couple more sales, so I qualify as an active member**. I'm actually part way towards that, as I appear to have sold another story to a pro market (details coming later ~mysterious eyebrow waggle~ ***).

Novel Stuff

The established wisdom is you should finish any novel you start, no matter what. This is good advice in most cases, as people are prone to the "woe is me, my writing is terrible" at the halfway mark.

I gave up on my novel anyway.

Advice always has to be taken in context. The context is that I'm not a person who gives up on things lightly. I do so when it's the sensible thing to do. 'Cockroach' was close to complete... and it wasn't going to sell.

I've realised I don't have enough experience of writing ensemble casts. The characterisation was poor for all but the main character and his spirit guide and I didn't have an easy fix for that. It's one of those things where I need more experience before I can tackle it.

In the meantime, I have a new project that focuses on two core characters. This is where my strength lies, and I'm pretty sure I can finish it in a few months (as opposed to the several years spent on the other novel project). It's urban fantasy and set in the USA**, so I'll have to curb my Britishisms.

No, it doesn't have any vampires in it.

Website Stuff

I've been fiddling with things here and there online. I now have a syndicated version of my blog on livejournal. In simple terms, that means you can use a livejournal account to follow if you want (but be warned that the syndicated version only has the most recent posts... for older posts, or to leave a permanent comment, you'd have to click through to the blogspot version).

Feed Link: Livejournal

I also put up a few pieces of visual poetry on my website (see the new visual poetry section).

Link Love

A new speculative poetry market has started, called Stone Telling. The focus is on multicultural and other diversity related poetry. Plus, the first issue will have a poem by Ursula Le Quin. There's still time to submit before their first reading period ends.

-

* The name is a nightmare with my dyslexia. I can't get the letters in the right order without copy/pasting. Maybe I need a nickname instead.

** There are two levels of author membership. For one, you only need to sell one story professionally - that's the one I have. For the other, you need to sell three stories (or one novel). I've realised a lot of people don't seem to know about the one story membership, so I'm mentioning it here.

*** In the interests of honesty, I have to admit I can't waggle my eyebrows mysteriously. I'm not that good at waggling them in any way. It's more of a metaphorical waggle.

**** This choice might seem a little odd, as there are plenty of UK cities... but the idea I had specifically requires the USA*****. My critique partner is American though, so I'll send him on a search and destroy mission once I'm done.

Then again, at least a few people online appear to have assumed I'm a white middle-class male American (bonus points if you know how many of those are wrong). I suppose it wouldn't seem strange at all to them. My tendency to use spellings like colour must look like an artistic statement or something.

***** I realise that's more than a little vague, but I don't like discussing ideas too much until I'm finished. I suppose I could kid on that it's a story about the stars in the American flag becoming sentient and trying to take over New York with their shiny star plans. But it's not.

Story at Flash Fiction Online

I have a story up at Flash Fiction Online. This is a professional market, as recognised by the SFWA, which means this is my first professional sale. Yay!

Story Link: Through Amber Eyes

Summer Fun in Second Life

One of the things people ask about Second Life is what can you do (especially what you can do for free, as not everyone wants to buy land and build things). One answer is going to events.

I live in a town called Chilbo in Second Life. Now that summer has come, they're holding a summer faire. There are various parties and the like scheduled for the week, but there are also some things up all the time... like the fun fair. You can't keep a mushroom* away from a fun fair.

My first stop was picking up a free bunny balloon. It was free and a balloon. That's all the reason I need**.

Then I headed into the scary house ride. I narrowly avoided being eaten by a werewolf.

I ended with a restful trip on the big wheel.

It was pretty quiet when I started out, but a crowd was starting to gather by the time I left (though most of them hadn't picked up free balloons). I'm not sure what other events I'll get to, but I'll definitely be around for the street parade as it ends at my place.

So if you're looking for something to do in Second Life, you could wander around the fun fair. There are boards up with details of the scheduled events or you can try not to get eaten in the scary house. The landing point is here (you'll need Second Life open to use the link properly). It ends on July 11th 2010.

-

* Yes, I'm literally a mushroom. I made the avatar myself.

** The last two pictures have bigger versions if you click on them. The first is just the same size.

The Bone Reviews

I'm back from my adventures. I was in the USA for a few weeks, followed by a week in Glastonbury (not the festival) and a day-trip to London to meet Evil Editor minions*. I'm very flumped. On the plus side, I ate cheesecake and brought a new dowsing pendulum.

I also had some time to get through some of my holiday reading. In the tradition of such things, here are some mini reviews of the two books I read.

Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs

This is the fourth in an urban fantasy series. It might seem odd to start with the fourth book, but there were elements to the fourth I was particularly interested in (based on the synopsis).

It follows Mercy Thompson, a skinwalker (coyote shapeshifter). She lives in a city dominated by vampires and werewolves of the generic European kind. The vampires apparently wiped out the skinwalkers, so Mercy has grown up with werewolves. In this book, she's recovering from a traumatic event from the last book (being vague so as not to spoil it for those reading through from book one).

The Good:

• I didn't have any trouble picking up the series at book four.
• I liked the setup of the fae. They're very varied and live on reservations. They seemed a little more distinctive than the vampires and werewolfs.

The Bad:

• The book opens with the main character looking at herself in the mirror. She then goes on to admire the looks of the werewolf love interest. Not the strongest of openings for either new readers or old faithfuls of the series.
• The whole early part dragged for me. I didn't need that long to get used to the characters and situation, and would have liked to see a little more action a little earlier.
• There's a bit of a tone shift. It starts off rather paranormal romancey. It ends up more action urban fantasy and love scenes fade-to-black. I could see romance readers being disappointed and action readers not getting to the action part.
• The Native American elements were rather token. They were there so Mercy could shift into a coyote rather than a wolf. I'd have liked to see more use of them.

Overall:

Not that great. It filled the plane journey, but I wouldn't pick up another book by the author unless it was set in a different world.

Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

This book had been recommended to me for its steampunk zombieness.

The main characters are Briar and Zeke (her son). Briar's husband was the inventor of the boneshaker, a drilling device which went wrong and opened up a seam of poisonous gas. This gas turns people into zombies and has turned the inner part of the city into a toxic wasteland.

Teenaged Zeke is convinced that his father was innocent of causing the problem, so heads into the polluted part of the city to prove it. Briar follows him. Steampunk hijinks ensue.

The Good:

• It has zombies!
• I liked the whole setting of a city covered in poisonous gas. The worldbuilding of how people survived worked well.
• The alternating viewpoints between Briar and Zeke (her son) were good. I enjoyed reading about both characters, rather than hoping one would end so I could get on with the other.

The Bad:

• I wasn't too convinced by the frame of the man writing his book. It didn't draw me into the story. That said, the opening frame is pretty short.

The Neutral:

• The steampunk elements are subdued. They tend to be prototypes of new inventions, rather than a world where everything is steampunk. If you like your steampunk to have a whirligig on every corner, this won't be the book for you.

Overall:

I enjoyed the book and would like more in this world.

-

* In the interests of full disclosure, there are some pictures of me on Fairyhedgehog's blog, and a slightly less accurate description of events on Whirlochre's. I'll leave you to decide which bits are less accurate.