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AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

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Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#41

Post by LikelyClueless »

gigatree wrote: post #21
abxyz wrote: post #13

Setting aside the uncanny valley, my understanding is that people like seeing people not because they look like people but because it conveys effort and investment on the part of another human being. We want to feel like we're worth someone else's time, in every context. We don't like to interact with people just because that's the only way we can interact but because humans are human. AI avatars are the exact opposi…

That’s why I disagree with the idea that salespeople will be the first to be replaced by AI. If anything, they’ll be the last to be replaced.

I think you just made me realize that I don't like interacting with salespeople because their behavior falls into some kind of uncanny valley.

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#42

Post by bongodongobob »

powvans wrote: post #26
abxyz wrote: post #13

Setting aside the uncanny valley, my understanding is that people like seeing people not because they look like people but because it conveys effort and investment on the part of another human being. We want to feel like we're worth someone else's time, in every context. We don't like to interact with people just because that's the only way we can interact but because humans are human. AI avatars are the exact opposi…

Spot on. There's something instinctual about this. My kids (13,10,8) all love making art. When I show them AI tools that they could use to generate art or riff on existing art, they are actively opposed. They tell me that AI art is not real art, that AI tools for doing this sort of thing are gross, and they want nothing to do with it. As a technologist I think "omg this is so cool" and it has been genuinely surprisin…

They are probably also afraid of the dark and think they'll see their dead pet in heaven.

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#43

Post by gigatree »

LikelyClueless wrote: post #41
gigatree wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why I disagree with the idea that salespeople will be the first to be replaced by AI. If anything, they’ll be the last to be replaced.

I think you just made me realize that I don't like interacting with salespeople because their behavior falls into some kind of uncanny valley.

Maybe they’re actually AI avatars! Or just bad salespeople

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#44

Post by miltonlost »

Trying to put a human-face on AI annoys me to no end. Stop trying to make me empathize with a computer program. Stop trying to endear me to a company's choice to not hire humans.

I made a phone call to a cable company because I couldn't use their app or website to do what I needed. The bot that answered my call then proceeded to use fake keyboard typing sounds as they "look up my info". Let the bot be a bot. Don't try to trick me.

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#45

Post by klooney »

teachrdan wrote: post #3

It will never stop being funny to me that these assholes self-righteously told government to step out of the way so that they (and by extension the rest of the Silicon Valley investor class) could show how they could build their way out of all of our social, economic, and political problems. They even end this self-righteous screed with "There is only one way to honor their legacy and to create the future we want for…

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_... they do have a bunch of hardware startups, mostly in socal.

https://a16z.com/american-dynamism-50-2025/ is their splash page, table is from https://www.construction-physics.com/p/reading-list-031525

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#46

Post by voidUpdate »

entrepy123 wrote: post #20

From TFA: > Can’t you just generate an image of a face, animate it, and add a voiceover? Not quite. The challenge isn’t just nailing the lip sync — it’s making facial expressions and body language move in tandem. It would be weird if your mouth opened in surprise, but your cheeks and chin didn’t budge! Starting here: - "generate an image of a face, animate it, and add a voiceover?" Tried this at [0]. Here's an exampl…

Just to your point on vtubers, I agree that sometimes the software is a bit clunky, but my girlfriend was able to make herself an avatar and get it responding correctly quite easily. I had to help her with a couple of things, but that was mostly because she didn't know what she needed to look for. Plus, I think the final aim of this is different. VTubers, to me at least, are all about expressing yourself as something you want to be, not just... re-animating your own face? Not entirely sure what the purpose of this is

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#47

Post by miltonlost »

whimsicalism wrote: post #31
powvans wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on. There's something instinctual about this. My kids (13,10,8) all love making art. When I show them AI tools that they could use to generate art or riff on existing art, they are actively opposed. They tell me that AI art is not real art, that AI tools for doing this sort of thing are gross, and they want nothing to do with it. As a technologist I think "omg this is so cool" and it has been genuinely surprisin…

its because they are exposed to the internet and left-leaning culture from their schools, i highly doubt that is their first exposure reaction.

Have you been on the internet lately? The manosphere is everywhere; right-wing discourse is the norm.

Left-leaning culture in schools? Such as what left-leaning cultures? That you think there is bias in education kind of shows your own biases/POV

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#48

Post by whimsicalism »

miltonlost wrote: post #47
whimsicalism wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its because they are exposed to the internet and left-leaning culture from their schools, i highly doubt that is their first exposure reaction.

Have you been on the internet lately? The manosphere is everywhere; right-wing discourse is the norm. Left-leaning culture in schools? Such as what left-leaning cultures? That you think there is bias in education kind of shows your own biases/POV

I am 'very online'. I have seen a huge rise in right-wing content on social issues, but also a huge rise in very explicitly leftist and anti-AI content in a way that did not previously exist - especially on economic/industry issues.

That public education has a left-wing slant in many jurisdictions seems difficult to deny, but I did go to a particulsrly leftwing school district. I do not think you really know anything about my POV and likely the inferences you would make based on my statement are wrong.

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#49

Post by ruffrey »

torginus wrote: post #40

This is just a personal preference thing - but I dislike any attempts at injecting artificial personhood - if they make an agentic personal assistant or whatever, I don't want to think of it as a person but a rather sophisticated tool. My phone uses AI to retouch the pictures it takes with its camera, but I don't have to exchange pleasantries with iPhone Clippy for it to do its thing - it just pretty much does. I don…

As exciting as the last couple years have been in the AI space, I totally agree.

There was an advertisement on Twitter a few years ago for Google Home. It was a video where a parent was putting their child to bed, and they said, "Ok Google, read Goodnight Moon."

It felt like a window into a viscerally dystopian future where we outsource human interaction to an AI.

Re: AI Avatars Escape the Uncanny Valley

#50

Post by hellisothers »

NewJazz wrote: post #37
asdfgjkl wrote: post #22

So it's another case of "let's make a solution for nonexisting problem" in the world of AI? We all hear promises of how AI will save the world and bring about technological innovation and solutions for hard problems, and what we get is replacement for a job that can be done much cheaper by a human being. I am getting major crypto vibes here, promises of greatness and bringing nothing but unnecessary fluff.

What kind of ai might change your mind?

Ai that solves problems we have right now and under promises and over delivers. Right now I feel it’s mostly over promising solutions to gee-wiz things nobody needed.
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