Mediaset recently surprised viewers with the presentation of Alba Renai, its virtual influencer that works with AI. The reactions to her presentation, as you might imagine, have not been good. And that leads us to see that, constantly, the creators of this type of “virtual people” are forgetting something. Something so important that it condemns them all to failure.
Spain is trying to enter the race to have AI on television. Virtual presenters trained with AI are already being seen around the world. They star in the news giving the news, present thematic spaces or even become influencers with profiles that receive millions of followers. However, they go from curiosity to oblivion and rejection more suddenly than one could imagine. Why do human AIs generate such bad reactions?
Uncanny Valley, population: millions of people
You may not know what the uncanny valley is, but it is more than likely that you too have “visited” it on some occasion. Or rather, we should say “experienced.” The term this hypothesis was coined by Professor Masahiro Mori in 1970, at a time when, logically, robotics had not progressed as much as it does today. However, at that time people were already looking to the future and dozens of science fiction stories were known that imagined that, sooner or later, we would reach a time like the current one.
The Uncanny Valley explains that when we look at Alba Renai, the first thing we feel is curiosity, interest, and generally positive emotions. It’s possible that this happened to you too when you saw this AI from Mediaset. At first you think that “it seems very real”, “it moves realistically” or “it looks cool”, but as time goes by and you listen to it, your perspective changes. This happens because the influencer has an excess of humanity that pushes you towards the opposite side of what you were feeling. Alba is so real and she seems so human that she will make you cross the valley and, from that moment on, all you will feel is rejection.
You can ask other people who have seen this virtual influencer’s scene entry to see if the same thing happened to them. This also explains the reason why although the first impressions on social networks about AI could be good, what has ended up circulating with more virality have been the criticisms where all the problems that this human AI has are brought to the fore. This is where you really see the effect of having crossed the uncanny valley, with comments from all types of users who have forgotten any positive impression they may have had and who now only focus on highlighting the negative.
This is not something that should surprise you, since, as we indicated, the hypothesis has been used for decades and has been corroborated by other experts. This reaction that we humans feel is supported by various causes, such as that it makes us think about mortality, that it generates insecurity in us or even that its existence can clash with our religion. Different studies that have been carried out have even stated that the rejection that occurs when looking at a human AI or a realistic-looking robot is greater than, for example, if we look at the body of a deceased person. Because, in the latter case, the human mind continues to conceive the essence of its humanity and of the person who is no longer alive.
They are projects doomed to failure
The defects that are discovered once the uncanny valley is crossed will be reinforced as the days and weeks go by. Those feelings of rejection and discomfort that people will have watching Alba Renai will intensify or end up causing these human AIs to be ignored entirely. This has already begun to be seen with models created with AI, whose popularity is based on an expanded golden minute that gives them international fame until, hours later, the world forgets about them.
The reason for this is that people, users and any individual, need a human-to-human connection. It doesn’t matter if you are following a person on Instagram or another, because you know that there are lives behind them, and they are individuals with whom, by following them or commenting on their posts, you form a small bond. In an irrational way, we all have those connections that we do not see, but that at some level we feel. That, with a virtual influencer created with AI, simply never comes to exist. There is no connection because you cannot have it with something that does not exist, with an entity with which you will not be able to connect at all. The universe is gigantic, but there will be absolutely no way for you to have even a minimal connection with AI.
Rejection of these artificial intelligence and human-like entities is inevitable. Some scientists are aware of this and are already acting in line with the risks of the uncanny valley. This is the reason why, no matter how much you see in the news that human-looking robots are manufactured in Japan, in reality they never make it to the streets.
Manufacturers know that they are a good claim, a way to achieve investments and generate a viral effect that goes beyond the obvious limitations of a robot that is too “robot.” However, when it comes down to it, Japan has all kinds of robots, usually without very advanced artificial intelligence, but none of them have a human appearance. They are looking for designs with which people can connect, generate a pleasant relationship and thus be able to benefit from their services.
For example, a famous restaurant chain such as Vips, has robots whose face, made with a screen, shows different symbols to make it look like a cat. It gestures and reacts to human interaction at a low level, because it is not a panacea for robotics either, but it does not generate any type of negative feeling. We watch him walk through the hallways and serve us food. The kids stand with him and take photos and he even asks you to touch the button on him when you pick up your plates. What would happen if instead of that feline and robotic-looking robot, it was a humanoid with AI that served us food? Crossing the uncanny valley would be almost immediate. A lot of things would go through our minds and most likely they wouldn’t be good. In the end, we wouldn’t enjoy the food.
The same thing happens with other robots and AI systems, in which, at most, and maintaining the point of view of the land of the rising sun, they are given an animated appearance so that contact is more satisfactory. But changing those anime AIs for real-looking entities doesn’t feel like a good idea. The only hope left for those thinking about promoting this type of AI is to find a way to destroy the uncanny valley. Although, at present, it does not seem likely that it will be possible to achieve this. And it’s not good news for Alba Renai, but with 21 followers on her YouTube channel, it doesn’t feel like Mediaset’s AI has been a boom either.
