But what we're finding today is that it's not robots we have to worry about; the uncanny valley is all around you. Just consider ...

Way back in 1970, a Japanese roboticist named Masahiro Mori came up with the term "uncanny valley", the theory that as robots get more human like, people will respond positively to them, but only up to the point where they still definitely look like robots. Once they cross that point, or the uncanny valley, real humans will be disgusted by their robot counterparts, because they'll look almost like people, but not quite. And there is nothing we find more disturbing than that.

5 The Booming "Realistic" Sex Doll Industry

While sex dolls have been around for decades, and men's desire to have sex with a woman who won't talk back or ask for anything has been around forever, it was an American who took them beyond a mere novelty and into the uncanny valley.

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Artist Matt McMullen was trying to make art when he created his first lifelike miniature doll. He posted pictures of the little lady on the Internet, and surprisingly, somebody asked if it was, you know, doable. McMullen got an idea, and the RealDoll was born -- an incredibly realistic-looking sex doll complete with orifices, real-to-the-touch skin and hair, and, more recently, moving parts and programmable personalities in some models.

So what's the problem?

Other than the fact that you can now get rich selling life-sized masturbation aids (and they cost up to $10,000,) you have to ask what's the purpose of a RealDoll beyond what could be accomplished with the much simpler and cheaper Fleshlight (Google it -- or you can just figure out what it is by the name). Does making her look like this ...

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... create a more human connection? Because she ... what? Fools you into thinking she's a real girl?