Absolute Data

Artificial intelligence has secured itself in daily life across the globe. Some models of robots have consistently proved themselves to be as or more intelligent than the average human and have been successfully integrated into human society. These robots are colloquially known as syncs, a callback to the technology that grants them sentience by “syncing” their coding to a randomly generated digital model of a human brain, and for the company that created the first robots to implement this technology. Still, they are reminded at every turn that they are not human, and even in the best cases, will rarely be treated as such.

Some parts of the world are better than others. The United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, and much of Western Europe recognize sync as non-human persons, granting them the same basic rights as humans, with additional rights afforded all the time. Socially, sync acceptance in these places varies. The more liberal-minded humans tend to be more open while conservatives are often more wary. As with any group of people, there are always extremist hate groups, but casual and “accidental” racism are far more common. Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia have proven far more difficult for syncs to gain a foothold. Some of these countries legally classify self-aware robots somewhere below human but above animal, while others ubiquitously consider them inanimate objects and thus property of their human counterparts. Human society in these places often puts syncs at the very bottom of the social ladder, where they suffer poverty, abuse, and extremely high mortality rates, though some major cities offer more opportunities to their mechanical inhabitants than others. Some cities in otherwise hostile areas have become well-known safe havens, or were recently founded by syncs themselves. These cities are often far enough removed from human societies for the government to turn a blind eye to (while always keeping another locked on, just in case), or have a social climate in direct opposition to the official government stance that protects their sync populations. There are notable examples in Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Brazil, and Guyana.

The only universal right granted to syncs is the right of free will - at least on paper. The United Nations’ Blank Slate Agreement dictates that any sentient robot manufactured after the agreement takes effect may not be pre-programmed with a primary directive. This means that a sentient robot cannot be designated and programmed for a specific role before it is first brought online. For example, a sentient robot cannot be programmed to be a construction worker, or childcare provider, or medical assistant. Their software must be neutral, allowing the robot to learn, gravitate, and make decisions on its own. The agreement does not pertain to non-sentient robots, nor does it regulate hardware; a sentient robot may be built with the equipment suited to construction work, but their programming cannot force them to be one. This works in theory, and in countries where syncs are treated relatively equally, it has been successful. However, it only applies to countries that recognize any robots as sentient. Even in those that do, there is no UN legislation preventing governments from assigning roles based on hardware, mandating or restricting updates and protection software, or forcibly removing or installing new software in already activated units.

While it varies as much place-to-place as it does with human culture, some aspects of sync culture are common throughout all countries. All syncs are programmed with a binary audio language, which sounds like a series of clicks, chirps, beeps, and tones, some of which may be inaudible to the human ear (sometimes it even produces short melodies). Most are also pre-programmed with the native language(s) of the country in which they were manufactured. Many syncs choose to have their binary output sensors connected to external lights, so that any humans around them can tell when they are conversing versus when they are malfunctioning. In some places, speaking binary is prohibited outside of private residences.

Modding is a massive global industry, even in places where it is technically illegal. Syncs are “born” looking and functioning the same as every other member of their baseline model. Once they are powered on for the first time and released into the world, they are free to alter themselves in most any way they please. There are mods for everything: additional languages, new skills, alternate voices, specialized tools, extra or alternate limbs, sexual attachments, an endless array of cosmetic adjustments to varying extremity, and more. Mods that pose a threat to the safety others (weapons, large spikes, industrial tools, etc) or make a sync not immediately distinguishable from a human at a glance (synthetic skin and hair, face plates molded to a humanoid shape, etc) are illegal or strictly regulated in most places.