History Main / RidiculouslyHumanRobots

->''"Being a robot's great, but we don't have emotions, [[TinMan and sometimes that makes me very sad]]."''

* In the video for Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," singer Zoltar, a SadClown fortunetelling automaton with peeling paint stuck in a glass case, is nonetheless very human in appearance (as played by vocalist Marko Saaresto) and psychology. He's obviously depressed and LoveHungry in the extreme, hoping to escape the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]], and his ObsessionSong is a desperate bid for the love of his customer, that he might be free. He [[HostileAnimatronics beats the walls]] of his case and sheds a SingleTear when his attempt fails.

* Warforged in TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons's TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} setting apply, though they're half-robot-half-golem... thingies. They were originally created to be warriors, and unexpectedly developed the capacity for emotion and self-awareness.

->''"Being a robot's great, but we don't have emotions and sometimes that makes me very sad."''

* Janelle Monae's Metropolis is based around an android named Cindi Mayweather who falls in love with a human.

* A certain philosophical [[http://www.asimovlaws.com/articles/archives/2004/07/why_we_need_fri_1.html current]] on The Singularity states that any AI, potentially capable of self-improvement, that wasn't also ridiculously human (or even better, super-humane) in terms of morality and empathy would be a lot more dangerous than the whole stock of nuclear weapons on planet Earth. It makes sense... it's the difference between [[Film/{{Terminator}} SkyNet]] and the [[Literature/TheCulture Minds]].

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bender_smoking_3778.PNG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:He needs the alcohol for powering his batteries. [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking The cigars]] [[RuleOfCool make him look]] [[SmokingIsCool cool.]]]]

->"''Being a robot's great, but we don't have emotions and sometimes that makes me very sad.''"

The degree to which this is actually "ridiculous" varies depending on the setting. In some cases they get a free pass -- it may be that an intelligence, artificial or not, ''needs'' to be vaguely human-like in its basic outlines, with emotions, interests, motivations, et cetera simply to be functional for certain tasks, such as those requiring a great deal of long-term autonomy. On the other hand, perhaps humans prefer {{Sexbot}}s [[PersonalityChip not to behave like automated teller machines]]. Or it may be, if human intelligence itself is merely an evolved set of functions held together in an evolved psychological architecture, that any society with sufficiently ubiquitous and flexible automation [[MechanicalEvolution will necessarily have the means to produce something human-like]]. Whatever serves the needs of the well-reasoned plot or setting. In these cases, RidiculouslyHumanRobots make sense. Also, a few illogical design choices are a small price to pay for keeping robotic characters out of the UncannyValley. However, it's rare that a series explicitly spells this out, and often, these [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence human-like]] {{A|rtificialIntelligence}}Is are put right up next to similar, yet [[TheStoic emotionless equivalents]] that function perfectly.

->"''Being a robot's great, but we don't have emotions [[HypocriticalHumor and sometimes that makes me very sad.]]''"

* RidiculouslyHumanRobots/{{Live-Action TV}}

The degree to which this is actually "ridiculous" varies depending on the setting. In some cases they get a free pass -- it may be that an intelligence, artificial or not, ''needs'' to be vaguely human-like in its basic outlines, with emotions, interests, motivations, et cetera simply to be functional for certain tasks, such as those requiring a great deal of long-term autonomy. On the other hand, perhaps humans prefer sex bots [[PersonalityChip not to behave like automated teller machines]]. Or it may be, if human intelligence itself is merely an evolved set of functions held together in an evolved psychological architecture, that any society with sufficiently ubiquitous and flexible automation [[MechanicalEvolution will necessarily have the means to produce something human-like]]. Whatever serves the needs of the well-reasoned plot or setting. In these cases, RidiculouslyHumanRobots make sense. Also, a few illogical design choices are a small price to pay for keeping robotic characters out of the UncannyValley. However, it's rare that a series explicitly spells this out, and often, these [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence human-like]] {{A|rtificialIntelligence}}Is are put right up next to similar, yet [[TheStoic emotionless equivalents]] that function perfectly.

Robots in television -- particularly comedic television -- are usually human-like in ways that very few sane programmers would deem useful. It can be something as simple as being philosophical (wanting to understand human emotion, wondering if they [[OurSoulsAreDifferent have a soul]], etc.), but can extend to such things as robot social cliques, robot food, robot entertainment, robot religion, and even robot sex. It doesn't matter if it makes no sense in the context of a mechanical servant, or even if it's truly undesirable, the designers have [[PersonalityChip put it in there]] for [[MadScientist some twisted reason]]. This will often take the form of having an ArtificialHuman, a robot that looks ''exactly'' like a human.

See also InstantAIJustAddWater, SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids, and RobotGirl. Compare and contrast with ArtificialHuman, RobotMe, or MechanicalLifeforms. The more human-like ones are sometimes an EatingMachine. May become subject to a RoboticReveal if the robot looks ridiculously human enough to pass as one. Expect the reveal to have some {{squick}} if it's done via means like an UnusualUserInterface. Contrast DeceptivelyHumanRobots, for when the apparent humanity is only skin deep. Also contrast MechanicalMonster, where it is completely inhuman in both psychology and appearance. The inverse on nearly every level of CyberneticsWillEatYourSoul. Contrast ForgotHeWasARobot and StarfishRobots.

The degree to which this is actually "ridiculous" varies depending on the setting. In some cases they get a free pass - it may be that an intelligence, artificial or not, ''needs'' to be vaguely human-like in its basic outlines, with emotions, interests, motivations, et cetera simply to be functional for certain tasks, such as those requiring a great deal of long-term autonomy. On the other hand, perhaps humans prefer sex bots [[PersonalityChip not to behave like automated teller machines]]. Or it may be, if human intelligence itself is merely an evolved set of functions held together in an evolved psychological architecture, that any society with sufficiently ubiquitous and flexible automation [[MechanicalEvolution will necessarily have the means to produce something human-like]]. Whatever serves the needs of the well-reasoned plot or setting. In these cases, RidiculouslyHumanRobots make sense. Also, a few illogical design choices are a small price to pay for keeping robotic characters out of the UncannyValley. However, it's rare that a series explicitly spells this out, and often, these [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence human-like]] {{A|rtificialIntelligence}}Is are put right up next to similar, yet [[TheStoic emotionless equivalents]] that function perfectly.

* While [[http://gizmodo.com/5145287/cloaca-no5-is-a-monster-pooping-machine this contraption]] may not look human at all, it does something you certainly didn't expect any machine to be capable of. [[note]]For those who haven't read the article, it's an elaborate robotic version of a digestive system which even [[{{squick}} is capable of producing feces]].

* While [[http://gizmodo.com/5145287/cloaca-no5-is-a-monster-pooping-machine this contraption]] may not look human at all, it does something you certainly didn't expect any machine to be capable of.

* A certain philosophical [[http://www.asimovlaws.com/articles/archives/2004/07/why_we_need_fri_1.html current]] on The Singularity states that any AI, potentially capable of self-improvement, that wasn't also ridiculously human (or even better, super-humane) in terms of morality and empathy would be a lot more dangerous than the whole stock of nuclear weapons on planet Earth. It makes sense... it's the difference between [[Film/{{Terminator}} SkyNet]] and the [[TheCulture Minds]].

* Utauloids can go even farther with this, not just with design and personality, but with voice quality, since the Utau program uses recorded-voice wav files. And thanks to VCV[[hottip:*:Vowel + Consonant + Vowel. Normal voicebanks are CV for Consonant + Vowel, which coincides with the way Japanese syllables work (ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, etc, one wav file for all instances in all songs). VCV records 6 different versions of all syllables, one for each leading vowel sound (a ka, e ka, i ka, u ka, o ka, n ka). People using the Utauloid use Utau to fade the syllables together using default options.]] voicebanks, a song by an Utauloid can sometimes sound ''completely indistinguishable from a human singer''. Notably on this issue, Teto's voicebank has been known for sounding genuinely robotic, yet she also has a VCV voicebank which some people prefer.

[[caption-width-right:350:He needs the alcohol for powering his batteries. [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking The cigars]] [[RuleOfCool make him look cool]].]]