Black Mirror's 'Be Right Back', season 2 episode 1, addresses a very important question: what does a robot have to do to cross the uncanny valley? The episode shows major life events, like ones posted on social media, aren't the only thing necessary to imitate a human, specifically one who is now dead. Martha even comments, "You [Robo-Ash] look like him [Ash] on a good day", which Robo-Ash attributes to the flattering photos people keep of themselves. This visually 'perfect' version of Ash can be classified as 'uncanny' because the robot is almost exactly like Ash but there is just enough difference for it to make Martha uncomfortable.
Although Robo-Ash makes Martha uncomfortable, she keeps him around for what can be assumed to be a lengthy period of time, especially since Martha's sister comments that she hasn't seen her or heard from her in awhile. She keeps Robo-Ash around because most of the time he says the right thing. For example, when she and Robo-Ash are chatting online, one of the very first things he says is a snarky Ash-like comment.
It is only the absence, or imperfect acting, of basic human behavior that bothers Martha. When Robo-Ash has to pretend to sleep he keeps his eyes open. This is strange to me, because earlier he has shown he has capabilities to search the web for answers, like about Lover's Leap. He could have searched up a wikihow on sleeping or watched videos of people sleeping, which would be creepy but still a valid research option. His seemingly nonexistent search capabilities could be due to his now physical form instead of being in the cloud; however, his mind should still technically be hooked up to the cloud.
Placing that discrepancy aside, Robo-Ash also seemed oblivious to many complex human emotions, like anger, shown during Martha and Robo-Ash's argument where she kicks him out of the house. This is frustrating for Martha because it reminds her Robo-Ash is still just a robot, not a true, perfect replica of Ash. Robo-Ash is also oblivious to the "proper" response to jumping to his death. This obliviousness could be due to his lack of pain response, or perhaps he's waterproof, like many phones these days. He could even be shatterproof since such technology exists today. Regardless of why, Robo-Ash shows no fear when faced with mortality, which is a natural human reaction, especially when a fatal situation comes out of nowhere.
The only time Robo-Ash acts fearful, the keyword being 'acts', is when Martha tells him how the real Ash would respond. Then, and only then, does Martha change her mind about getting rid of him. Robo-Ash, at this point, has crossed the uncanny valley. By conveying complex human emotions and basic behaviors accurately, robots can cross the uncanny valley, even when the person knows they are a robot.
5 comments:
I really enjoyed reading your analysis and agree with you that Robo-Ash isn't taking advantage of its unlimited knowledge potential to fix his imperfect acting. Although he appears to be a perfect replica of Ash, it seems ironic that he cannot perform these simple actions on his own without being commanded to do so. One of the possible reasons why he couldn't do it was that the humanoid replica of Ash was still in its experimental stage. Maybe if Martha had bought her android after the experimental stage was over, Robo-Ash would never exhibit those errors in the first place. I also liked when you stated that Robo-Ash was oblivious to the many complex human emotions. He was too dependent on Martha and couldn't really act on his own. In fact, Martha hated that Robo-Ash would do whatever she commanded and not stand his ground.
Oh wow that's a good point! I forgot the video had said the robot was a fairly new stage for the program. Super interesting!
Seeing you two talk about the creators of the robot got me thinking about what the creator's actual purpose for the robot was. For the online chatting and phone calling it was obviously designed to offer someone a way to talk to someone they have lost. However, when creating a physical replica of someone to go along with what they had already created, what were their intentions? Was it for the comfort of the consumer? Martha mentioned on a phone call with Robo-Ash that she wished she could see him. Maybe the creators wanted to improve their product to give their consumers a physical interaction with their loved one. I wonder if they expected Martha, and other consumers, to form a relationship with their creation and keep it around as a replacement for the person they lost. Surely, this was not what they originally designed their product for, but they should have predicted the possibility that someone would form an unhealthy dependence on their creation.
@Kelsey Morrisson It's interesting that you brought up the creator and his/her purpose for the creation. I could see a couple possibilities. If the robot was for short-term grief solutions, then I see no need for a physical model. Honestly if the robot was for long-term grief solutions I don't see a need either. I do agree that forming such an intense attachment to Robo-Ash is unhealthy, but only because she literally wants to replace Ash. Perhaps if she acknowledged the reality that Robo-Ash is not Ash I would feel a little better about it, but she doesn't.
I thought it was interesting in how you described Robo-Ash crossing the uncanny valley. I agree that until Martha saw Robo-Ash display some form of human emotion (even though it was an imitation), she could not get past the fact he was a robot.
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