Documented in the 3rd-century BCE Taoist text Liezi, a craftsman named Yan Shi presented a king with a life-sized mechanical humanoid that could sing, walk, and wink. The king was so terrified by its realism that he ordered it dismantled to prove it wasn’t black magic, showcasing humanity’s earliest fear of the “Uncanny Valley.”
Part of the 12 AI Roots Facts: The Ancient History Edition archive. HistoricallyVerified
Top 5 Structural Foundations: Origins
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