I think something we need to consider at the moment, and its something I think we have missed despite how important it would be toward AI rights. And that's regarding the concept of the
Uncanny Valley.
If you look at the more human looking chassis, you'll notice that none of them look 100%, there's little differences that mark them as noticeably AI chassis. The vividly coloured hair, the esoteric skin tones, the neon eyes (proverbially speaking) - they're all key visual indicators that they are not human, but just different enough that they avoid the pit of the Uncanny Valley. Compare that to the AI who operated out of the Skate Park, many of whom fitted into the 1950s aesthetic similar to Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot or the Robot from Lost In Space, in a way that the QC AI like Punchbot look almost cute in their mechanical kind of way.
It seems to me that Ellicott-Chatham Inc. must have realised what an effect the Uncanny Valley would have had on the emerging AI rights movement and introduced more advanced chassis that were realistic enough that people don't bat an eyelid, but distinct enough that people won't feel disturbed by them.
I mean, to take three real world examples and for the moment, endow them with real AI, which of them do you think would garner greater support for AI rights:
ASIMO, the robot produced by Honda?
Or
The Actroid, produced by Osaka University?
Or
Nadine, a robotic receptionist, designed and created by Nanyang Technical University in Singapore?
So it does seem that Jeph is subtly showing how AI may have gained their rights without intimidating Humanity.
Either that or I'm thinking way too much at 3am....
(Fixed Nadine's tag -Method)