Robots
I'm not a robot without emotions, I'm not what you see
I've come to help you with your problems, so we can be free
-Styx
Among humanity, artificial life is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from organic life. Cybernetics and mechanical bodies allow humans to be more robotic, and allow robots to look more human. Similarly artificial minds have become increasingly human like. Humanity has yet to make a mind that can both pass as a human and carry out the massive data-processing of a super computer but perhaps it is only a matter of time
Humanoid Robots
Producing Human-like robots that think like humans is difficult but not impossible. They are still far too expensive to be commercially viable, so they tend to be produced by high end universities for study and research. Their numbers can be measured in the hundreds when compared to the Human population of billions and generally they don't perform any better than a Human would as configuring a mind to think like a human seems to preclude being able to crunch data like a Super Computer.
The issue of rights for Artificial Humans is still in question. The Magnetic Assembly will extend citizenship to anything that can show a certain level of Sapience, while nations like the HFR highly restrict creation and use of human-like minds.
The issue of rights for Artificial Humans is still in question. The Magnetic Assembly will extend citizenship to anything that can show a certain level of Sapience, while nations like the HFR highly restrict creation and use of human-like minds.
Humanoid Robot Examples
Human-like Robots
Replicating the activities of a Human mind isn't the only goal of robotics research. Some robots are very closely based on the human mind. Extensive research is being done into transferring a human mind into a machine but so far the only success has been in making crude copies of a human. There seems to be no way to fully transfer a human mind over into a machine. However close the mind is, the body can also be made to look very human-like to the point where most might overlook the artificiality unless they are up close.
Human-Like Robots
Artificial Creatures
Blurring the line between what is a robot and what is a creature, there are organic machines that are hard to classify strictly as a robot. They certainly aren't natural creatures either. Many were created for service, for research, or in some cases for the benefit of their own societies.
Artificial Creatures
Inhuman Robots
Though most research tends to closely follow the human form, there is little need to slavishly follow it. Cutting-edge artificial minds can be used to pilot any kind of body. Many of the High-Cyborgs of the Magnetic Assembly already discard their humanoid forms for something more suited to a life in space.Similarly, not all robots are constructed by Humans. Many other races have, or once had, the ability to produce such things.
Some also do not meet a human-like threshold for Sapience, and are closer to elaborate machines rather than true artificial life.
Inhuman Robots
- Aliyums
- Drones