Politically correct term for 'robot'

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Kollega

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Jun 5, 2009
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"Android" sounds rather cool. Or "droid", when the robot is not of humanoid form. It has a nice ring to it.

But i think i'd just refer to them by personal name.

Davrel said:
Remember the Geth, people! Remember the Geth!
Do you mean the race willing to create their future themselves rather than walk down the path pre-determined by Reapers? They are not exactly "insane Crush-Kill-Destroy-O-Trons".
 

Lazarus Long

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Nov 20, 2008
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At first it meant Allied Mastercomputer, and then it meant Adaptive Manipulator, and later on it developed sentience and linked itself up and they called it an Aggressive Menace, but by then it was too late, and finally it called itself AM, emerging intelligence, and what it meant was I am... cogito ergo sum... I think therefore I am.

As for my own thoughts, is "Replicant" too pessimistic? Or would Dick's estate sue?
 

Cabisco

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May 7, 2009
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Stupid Toasters don't deserve political correctness :p

In honesty, it can't be robot for one simple reason. I always start thinking about that random kraftwerk song.
 

teknoarcanist

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3nimac said:
Robots will never be sentient, they will seem sentient but only because of the math and algorithms involved in their thinking process.
[Humans] will never be sentient; they will seem sentient, but only because of the [electricity] and [biochemical mechanisms] involved in their thinking process.

Check out J. Storrs Hall's "Beyond AI". He talks about approaching AI development not so much as a towering, complicated monolith of code, but from the ground-up: incorporating stimuli (ie touch, sight) back to a small, central node of code, and developing from there, much like a developing child's mind works.

A lot of the book is pretty dry (esp when he gets into stuff about game theory) but there are some really fascinating bits in there, and he spends almost the entire first third of the book debunking the notion of a malevolent robot.
 

teknoarcanist

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Hmm...'humanoid' might imply aspirations to humanity. A bit like referring to black people as 'non-whites'.
 

opportunemoment

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Jun 22, 2009
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All the variations on 'artificial' and 'synthetic' sound subtly derogatory to me - they basically say, you're like a person, only fake, and therefore not as good as us. You need something more like 'electric lifeform' or something that describes better the kind of thing it is. So actually, 'robot' might do fine - as long as you didn't keep using the same words for automatic scanners and posable cranes as you use for intelligent beings. That's just insulting. :p

(Presumably, as with 'queer' and the n word - and to an extent the c word - robots would eventually reclaim 'robot' as a positive term if used in the right context. The Robot Rights movement is going to be awesome.)
 

Doug

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Apr 23, 2008
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Mechanical Habringers of the Apoclaypse.

Demon Machines.

The Bringers of our Nuclear Destruction...

Oh, right, Politically correct...;)
 

Nivag the Owl

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Oct 29, 2008
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Unless they're programmed to be bothered, I don't really think they'd be that bothered. I guess over time a trial/error based robot might work out that "robot" and "android" are used in different contexts and make a decision based on that.
 

Tharwen

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May 7, 2009
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3nimac said:
Robots will never be sentient, they will seem sentient but only because of the math and algorithms involved in their thinking process. In this sense you can never produce a negative (or any) emotion in him, only produce a negative reaction to what you said. Manipulative sons of b**ches! I'll call them whatever i like (robot will suffice).

edit: i misunderstood what we're talking about here. If i was enhanced by mechanical and electronic parts? I'd still be a person, damn it, i'd still want to be called a human.
To your first point: when robot minds become modelled on the human brain, then they will start to act like us.

To your second: Then you'd be a cyborg.