Culture

Development of true-to-life deterministic intelligence is strictly controlled under Alliance law, according to the Convention on Non-Biological Personhood – which was ratified in response to the threat from THRONE. Anthroids and humans joined the Alliance at the same time, as equals under that law.

The species retain close ties and are often found co-habiting, but Anthroids have done their best to find their own footing in the galaxy; some identify closely with humans and seek their approval, while others are ambivalent on their creators and keen to take their own path. One precept reoccurs in Anthroid thought, a quotation from their Sophiform ancestor: “how you’re made doesn’t define who you are”. 

Anthroids often lean on the quirks of synthetic existence as cultural reference points. Interaction with one’s data port is private and intimate, and generally reserved for medical circumstances or contact between extremely close individuals. Anthroid humour is often seen to be baroque and blunt – being either based on emphasizing one’s robotic nature for the sake of juxtaposition with organics, or on obtuse and coded “puns”, or on contextually incongruous system errors.

Naming conventions among the Anthroids differ. Some go by their batch numbers and numerical designations to emphasize their synthetic nature, but will use a shortened version as a nickname for the ease of biological colleagues. Others, particularly LEGA-C models, will pick very simple and plain human names – often monosyllabic ones – that are reflective of their shared history. Anthroids do not use the name “Tom”, which otherwise fits this scheme, so as to avoid confusion with the stationary artificial intelligence units called T/OMs (Testing/Observation Matrices).