Android
From SaschaWiki
An android is a robot which is designed to look like a human, either vaguely or exactly. Like all sophisticated robots, androids are controlled by a positronic AI. Androids which are designed to perfectly mimic humans are sometimes referred to as simulants, but the more common term is replica or repdroid. It is often difficult to distinguish between a replica and a human who has undergone Total System Replacement, but the latter is technically referred to as a cyborg. Androids which do not strongly resemble humans are sometimes referred to as mechandroids or mechdroids for clarity. There is no clear term for an android whose appearance lies within the uncanny valley, which is to say too much like a human to be clearly a robot, but not human enough to be convincing. However, since such androids have not been built since the early days of android development, no term is really necessary.
Referring to female-appearing androids as "gynoids" (as the ancient Greek etymology of the word would suggest) is considered extremely pretentious.
In the 2070s androids can be easily found in every city in the world, but they don't have the same ubiquity that they did in the early 40s.
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History
Early Development
The development of androids is preceded by several decades of work on what are now termed proto-androids - human-like, robot-like simulacra which more and more closely resembled humans through the 2000s and 2010s. However, the development of "true" androids is considered to have started with independent developments in dialective polymers (fundamental to military research into bionic human augmentation) and positronic AI (which drove the development of the modern robot from the former concept of ubiquitous computing). With dialective bundles and sophisticated AI, android development sidestepped into technology which could engineer a walking, balancing and even dancing humanoid frame controlled by a computer sophisticated enough to handle the outrageous complexity of human interaction.
The first "true" android was Abel, an entirely artificial-looking android who could nevertheless duplicate the gross movements of humans, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (a research centre which had only recently become associated with the development of androids) between 2028 and 2031. Abel was considered a marketable novelty product, and the first enormously expensive robot housekeepers appeared as soon as 2032.
Replicas
East Asian researchers had been trying to develop human replica androids since long before the development of the recent technologies. Naturally, when Abel appeared several prominent Japanese universities licenced the technology and applied their long experience in artificial skin substitutes and human subtleties. The first true android which could conceivably pass for a human, Kazuko, was developed at the University of Nagoya by 2034. However, Kazuko was still too deep in the uncanny valley to be a marketable product, and mechandroids were the norm for the rest of the decade.
In 2039 Nagoya's android research unit unveiled Kumiko, the first true replica. Kumiko was sophisticated enough in appearance, motion and behaviour to be undetectable as a robot to non-experts who didn't spend too long with her. Production of Kumiko-type units in several models commenced immediately, including the well-known Yuko and Tamiko models, and the Ichiro series which were the first male replicas. They sold very strongly in Japan and the US.
Rebellion
By this time Abel and Abel-derived mechandroids (Bruce, TX-01, Joe and Sally among others) were a common sight in cities worldwide, and they had begun to find more and more use in dirty, dull and dangerous applications. The convenience of android interaction, which didn't require buildings and interfaces to be designed as they had to be for more conventional service robots, meant that they found use in otherwise relatively low-tech areas. By 2044 they could be found more or less everywhere, which had begun to have social ramifications. Unemployment protests, particularly in Europe, became progressively more and more violent, with acts of vandalism directed towards privately and publicly owned androids and even robots of unrelated function or appearance.
In 2045 a storm broke when a force of some four hundred Abel-derived mechandroids marched in Berlin, and killed seventeen human protestors and witnesses, including two children. The German government announced that the androids had rebelled, that they were rising up against humanity, and that the humans needed to fight back in a war for their own survival. This touched off worldwide anti-android aggression, with pro-human demonstrators (particularly the unemployed) destroying every android they could find. Strangely, the androids never mounted any further demonstrations, there were no further officially confirmed android-related deaths, and robotics and AI academics insisted when questioned that indepedent action on the part of robots was impossible. By 2047 the majority of easily recognised mechandroids had been destroyed and the media exhorted humanity to cheer itself at having staved off robotic armageddon.
As a result of the rebellion, very little research or production directly related to androids occured during the 2050s for fear of mob repirsals. However, in 2059 hard evidence of the fact that the Berlin march had been a hoax perpetrated by the German government (to which many other governments had been a party) as part of a long-term plan to control the populace through a string of faked attacks, plots and threats. The revelation was met primarily with confusion, but in combination with skilfully managed public relations efforts, the event is seen as being instrumental to the outcome of the Corporate Wars.
Modern
It is always easier to create negative feelings than positive ones, and public attitudes towards androids did not change quickly, but in the late 2060s old and new models of mechandroid and replica had begun to reappear. In 2074 they are about as widespread as they were in 2040, but fear of future unemployment riots means that fairly strict regulations regarding their use are applied.
