uncanny valley

[uhn-kan-ee val-ee]

noun

1. 1. a psychological concept that describes the feelings of unease or revulsion that people tend to have toward artificial representations of human beings, as robots or computer animations, that closely imitate many but not all the features and behaviors of actual human beings.

   2. the dip in positive feelings toward such artificial representations.

Word History and Origins

Origin of uncanny valley¹

1970; coined by Masahiro Mori, Japanese roboticist (born 1927), from Japanese bukimi no tani (genshō) “uncanny valley (phenomenon)”

Example Sentences

“I think down the line we’ll understand that there’s just something missing. It’s that uncanny valley concept.”

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In April, Lyonne announced that she’d be directing her first feature film, titled “Uncanny Valley.”

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“Uncanny Valley,” about a teenage girl who loses touch with reality when a popular VR video game starts to glitch, will be produced by the AI production studio Lyonne co-founded, Asteria, using Moonvalley’s “clean” AI model, Marey, which produces “artist-led, ethical AI.”

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But with “Uncanny Valley,” the need for those workers is being replaced by generative AI, slashing jobs in a time when the industry is already in dire shape.

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AI voices, which can convincingly mimic human voices, are “beyond uncanny valley,” said Richie Cartwright, the founder of Fella, a weight loss startup that used one AI product to call pharmacies and ask if they had GLP-1s in stock.

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