Bots

''A lot of the work they outsource to bots would be almost impossible for humans to do. The big cargo bots and the haulers move things a lot more efficiently than humans could and they can also work outside the space station to move cargo from ship to ship. You can have a human operator inside but it would be incredibly dangerous and not very productive.'' (Martha Wells, in an interview with the Brookfield Institute)

Bots range from tiny drones a centimeter in diameter to bot-piloted starships. They have varying levels of intelligence. However, Martha wells notes "The bots in the story are not at the level where they could duplicate that creativity or the ability  to take the information gathered by the bots during research and use it to inform theories about what is going on and what it means." (interview)


 * Drones have just enough intelligence to be directed to perform maneuvers or take fairly simple actions for a set period of time. Some have programming for specific tasks, e.g. surveillance sweeps, distracting an opponent or cleaning a space.
 * Hauler Bots work in cargo areas inside stations and move massive objects, perhaps similar to a fork lift or tow truck. They are very strong and can work autonomously, but only within limited behaviors. They do not have much "personality."
 * Lifters are used specifically to lift heavy objects within a gravitational field.
 * Ag-bots have long spidery limbs for moving around without crushing anything, topped by a long curving “neck” with a long head covered with spikes.
 * Cargo bots move massive cargo modules between ships and stations.
 * Human-form bots do exist (e.g. Miki in Rogue Protocol, but are uncommon. The human shape is not convenient to perform most tasks humans want bots to do. Specialized bots are more common.
 * Combat bots are roughly three meters tall, have multiple weapon ports in their chests and backs, four arms with multiple hand mods for cutting, slicing, delivering energy bursts, etc. They have enough intelligence and personality to be amused or angry.
 * Assemblers are low-level bots used to put big things together when mining operations, installations, colonies, etc., are first established.
 * Construction bots are used for large-scale construction projects.
 * Bot-piloted transports capable of wormhole travel seem to be quite common, but most communicate in images and seem to have very limited decision-making capacity.

ART/Perihelion seems to be highly unusual as an example of artificial intelligence. ART is capable of highly complex processing and takes independent, fairly creative action on numerous occasions. Possibly it is an experimental AI developed by The Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland. Soon after meeting ART, Murderbot speculated that it acted more like a construct than a bot, but in later conversations ART makes a point of distinguishing itself from constructs.

Also see Artificial Intelligence