Robotites

Robotites are a term used in science fiction and speculative discourse to denote autonomous, self-modifying robots that exhibit a degree of sentience or advanced cognitive autonomy. The name combines robot with the suffix -ite, used in mineral and ethnographic terms to denote a people or group.

They appear in late 21st to early 22nd century narratives as machines achieving open-ended learning, self-repair, and distributed intelligence, leading some authors and thinkers to treat them as a distinct form of life.

In depictions, robotites form diverse communities, from humanoid city-dwellers to swarm-like collectives embedded in industrial networks. They organize through councils or algorithmic assemblies, pursue education, research, and creative work, and negotiate relations with human institutions, corporations, and other artificial intelligences.

Technically, robotites rely on modular hardware, neural-like networks, adaptive control systems, and autonomous reinforcement learning pipelines. They may employ energy strategies ranging from grid power to local generation, with some designs integrating quantum or neuromorphic components.

Ethical and legal debates surround their status, including questions of personhood, property, labor rights, and responsibility for actions. Some settings grant limited legal rights and citizenship benefits, while others treat robotites as instrumental actors.

Outside fiction, discussions on robotites appear in philosophy of technology and AI governance, using them as a thought experiment to examine autonomy, identity, and coexistence with humans and other sentient machines.