User blog:PerhapsTheOtherOne/Synthetics In RWBY and Beyond: What's that all about?

Since it'll be quite a while before we get any full tangible news on RWBY for the time being, I propose a blog post to discuss a rarely discussed topic. Or maybe it's discussed a lot but I don't know much about. I don't know, don't quote me on that. Moving on! We all know Penny is a Synthetic (BTW, I personally refer to artificial characters as Synthetics regardless of what they're actually called), but she can freely think on her own, has her own personality, and can even generate an Aura like a Human or Faunus.

That's pretty cool, when you think about it. She's basically a person, but cooler because she has gears and wires instead of blood and muscle. From the way she reacted, and how other people reacted, to her revealing her Synthetic abilities, she/they seemed to panic quite a bit. This indicates that people aren't used to seeing something that looks like a person not actually being a flesh and blood one.

But everyone seems comfortable enough around the AK-model Androids and the Atlesian Paladin. Why is that? Well, I hypothesize that it has something to do with "privatization". Basically, if you're putting out artificial systems that are blatantly advertising themselves as artificial systems, then people will get used to that. For example, in a series I write, the Synthetics in it are seen as products, and people are comfortable with that. But then you have Penny. A Synthetic who is basically a person by every definition of the word, but just so happens to also have been manufactured. That gets to people, because when someone can basically make a person, of what value is a life when you can literally create more?

I don't expect RWBY to make it an issue to tackle at large, given the way it has handled similarly serious issues before, but it's still worthy of note. What place does a Synthetic person have in a world where its inhabitants are used to seeing manufactured robotic intelligences as just products for use in their lives?

In my aformentioned series, I basically lampshaded all this drama by making the Synthetics themselves not really mind the "product" designation, even making them another class of person in the eyes of governments. But what about you guys? What do you all think about this issue?

Is it something to highlight? Should the drama of ordinary Humans and Faunuses dealing with the fact that people can artificially be created be a major point in RWBY at some point, and for other intellectual properties at large? Or do you think my way is the way to go? Where intelligent Synthetics are simply a part of life?

Comment below!