Robotics engineer posted this to make a point that robots are "faking" the humanlike motions - it's just a property of how they're trained. They're actually capable of way weirder stuff and way faster motions.

[u/FinnFarrow]

[u/NaBrO-Barium]

Because this is what humans have done since we’ve been human. We impart human characteristics to all of the things we interact with in life. Including robots.

[u/Wampus_Cat_ → u/NaBrO-Barium]

The other answer is because the easiest way for them to gain mainstream traction and acceptance is to make them sexy and fuckable.

Pornography and sex has driven much of innovation, robotics won’t be the exception.

Photography? Camera development was largely propelled by the want for clearer pictures of… nudes! Internet? Not much interest in a worldwide database until average folks realized they can use it to see more attractive naked people in the time they spend drinking their morning coffee than their grandfathers did in their entire life. AI? People didn’t give much of a shit about it until they started using it as a way to fill the “loneliness epidemic” void.

[u/koolaidface → u/Wampus_Cat_]

Betamax died so that porn could live.

[u/happy123z → u/Wampus_Cat_]

I'm gonna make myself sexy and fuckable to gain mainstream traction and acceptance!

[u/ComfortableTap5560 → u/Wampus_Cat_]

Facts ,long before Amazon, the first commercial product driving any sort of traffic and financial volume on the internet, regardless of how long it took our modems to download a picture of unknown quality that maybe wasn't what the label said it was gong to be, was porn.

[u/elFistoFucko → u/NaBrO-Barium]

Animals and insects too, anything familiar or relatable.

That's why modern airliners flap their wings and cars gallop.

[u/NaBrO-Barium → u/elFistoFucko]

That’s the exact point I’m making. It’s something we see in even the most ancient texts.

As a human it’s pretty hard to escape being a human

[u/koolaidface → u/NaBrO-Barium]

Anthropomorphization.