03-25-2019, 05:40 AM
Bionoid seems to be a top-level superphyle that includes humanoid 'synthetic humans' and other biomimetic artificial beings. This sort of being could be created in a 'pod', but in general they would be created in a bioforge. Note that an engenerator is really a hyper-specialised bioforge, and I should really make that clear in the article. Maybe some bioforges resemble pods, but that is only a secondary consideration.
If Pod people in EP are described as being non-sophont, that really makes them a kind of embodied, biological Vot in OA, and this is not really a type that we have described very often in OA. A biological humanoid robot would conform quite closely to Karel Chapek's original concept of the 'robot', actually, and if I remember correctly, that story didn't end very well. A clade of non-sophont but extremely user-friendly biological robots would make very good slaves, but they would also make very attractive targets for Pan-sophontist activists.
If Pod people in EP are described as being non-sophont, that really makes them a kind of embodied, biological Vot in OA, and this is not really a type that we have described very often in OA. A biological humanoid robot would conform quite closely to Karel Chapek's original concept of the 'robot', actually, and if I remember correctly, that story didn't end very well. A clade of non-sophont but extremely user-friendly biological robots would make very good slaves, but they would also make very attractive targets for Pan-sophontist activists.