Droid
From the Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction - http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro
- For other uses, see Droid (disambiguation).
- "Well, if droids could think, there'd be none us of here, would there?"
- — Obi-Wan Kenobi, 22 BBY
Droids are robots: mechanical beings, often possessing artificial intelligence.
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Common Types
- Assassin droids are used to kill selected targets.
- Astromech droids are used aboard starships for navigational and maintenance purposes.
- Battle droids are used as weapons of war in place of living troops.
- Interrogation droids are used to question subjects; under some governments, they are particularly common as torturers.
- Medical droids are used as doctors.
- Protocol droids are used to handle diplomatic affairs, and aid in translation between various languages.
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Degrees of Droids
Droids are divided into five basic "degrees."
- First-degree: Capable of creative, complicated thought. Used in medical fields, or the sciences.
- Second-degree: Technical droids. Probe droids and the like also fit in this category.
- Third-degree: Social interaction droids, for example protocol droids.
- Fourth-degree: Security or military droids. They are often capable of harming sentients, and so are strictly regulated.
- Fifth-degree: Menial labor droids.
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Manufacture
The two leading droid manufacturers are Cybot Galactica and Industrial Automaton.
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Legal Status
Droids are typically treated as property. More advanced droids sometimes receive proportionally more respect. Some protest the status of droids as slavery. This is a contentious issue, owing in part to the difficulty of assessing levels of artificial intelligence, and determining which droids if any may be considered properly sentient.
Although emancipation of droids is a radical concept, some oppose memory wipes except for very simple droids.
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