• On the extreme, a Swedish manufacturer produced robot clones of a loved one who has died. The robots can control speech, has the capacity for facial recognition and other artificial intelligence capabilities.
• During the pandemic lockdown, the supplier Silicone Lovers experienced an increase in demand for these dolls.

The dolls cost $5,000 to $10,000 plus an added charge of $3,000 to $5,000 for the printing cost, but most people won't buy one because of the unease it creates.

Research explored some of the reasons people view robots that are too realistic as creepy.

• Human replicas cause creepy perceptions, known as the "uncanny valley." They found that exposure over time decreases the perception of uncanniness.
• While robots can have s...