It’s not really — or even remotely — an AI demonstration, but it’s a demonstration of something (probably several things).

Wikipedia provides some ‘Uncanny Valley’ background and links. The creepiness of The Polar Express (2004) seems to have been the trigger for the concept going mainstream.

From the level of human body simulation achieved already, it’s looking as if the climb out to the far side of the valley is close to complete. Sure, this android behaves like an idiot, but we’re used to idiots.

ADDED: Some hints on how the inside out approach is going (and speculations).

As Ching notes:

While India and China are both being hailed as rapidly developing emerging markets, the gap between the two countries is widening with India being left behind as China continues to power ahead. China’s growth in 2013 was 7.7 percent while that of India hit a low for the decade of 4.5 percent in the 2012-13 fiscal year.

Despite being positioned for catch-up (i.e. being far poorer), India simply doesn’t grow as fast as China. “The average estimated productivity growth rate of China (5.9%) is more than double that of India (2.4%).” India hasn’t matched Chinese growth rates in any single year since the end of the Mao-era in the late 1970s, even after launching its own much-heralded market-oriented economic reform program in the early 1990s. Despite pulling itself from the dismal 3% “Hindu” growth rate, which was roughly doubled to a 5-6% range, China’s average 9.8% growth rate, sustained over three decades, has remained far out of reach.

The two most populous nations on earth — by a huge margin — accounting between them for over a third of the ‘developing world’ by headcount (and for a far larger proportion of the part that has been in any serious way developing), would seem, superficially, like obvious candidates for unrelenting comparison. How could this titanic development race not be the most important socio-economic story on the planet?

Adding drama to this competition is the ideological polarity it represents. Pitting the most substantial and obstreperous antagonist to liberal-democratic global manifest destiny against a regime that was forged in Fabian social-democracy, and which continues to exult in its status as “the world’s largest democracy®” — the narrative potential is … oh wait.

For the forces of darkness, it only gets better. If India’s relative development failure is not to be considered a conspicuous illustration of democratic incapability, other explanatory factors have to be invoked. Something like 5% GDP growth is going missing, chronically, every year (and if alternative development indicators are preferred, the grim story they tell is much the same). Either India’s Cathedral-approved political orientation is responsible for this social morass, or something else has to be.

While wondering about this awkward conundrum, you’re quite likely to stop being surprised about the paucity of China-India comparative news coverage. Clearly, the “Why?” isn’t wanted, because it only goes to bad places. In fact, it’s probably the worst question in the world.