History Main / JustAMachine

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': When Brainiac receives his [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] [[TookALevelInBadAss upgrade]] into his SkeleBot9000 form, Superman discovers that Brainiac has laid waste to an entire planet's civilization, destruction far beyond anything he had ever done before. Superman seriously considers outright destroying him, despite his ThouShaltNotKill policy, justifying it because Brainiac is Just a Machine.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'':
** In the first movie Agent Simmons seems rather against calling [[BigBad Megatron]] by his true name when it is given to him by Sam, preferring to refer to him as the more machine-like moniker; N.B.E.-01. In fact, it is implied this pisses off Megatron himself, with him seemingly being conscious the entire time he was kept frozen by them; first thing he does upon thawing and awakening is [[IncomingHam announcing his true name]], before proceeding to slaughter all of the scientists and engineers in the room.
** Galloway refers to Optimus Prime as a "pile of scrap metal" after his dead body is delivered back to base. And this is even after Optimus managed to verbally own the guy in a debate that featured topics such as [[HumansAreBastards human nature]] and whether they could defend themselves against a Decepticon invasion. Then again, Galloway is just a huge JerkAss.
** In the third film, [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]]'s hatred for humanity comes partly from how humans see the Autobots as this. [[spoiler:Especially when it comes to him and Optimus, who are the last remaining Primes.]]

* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1908149/1/Institutionalized Institutionalized]]" features Janeway being sent for psychiatric evaluation after ''Voyager'' returns to Earth, with the various doctors dismissing Chakotay's appeal that the Doctor be allowed to see Janeway, as they consider him "just" a hologram, even as the ''Voyager'' crew affirm that the Doctor is the chief medical officer of a starship and deserves appropriate respect.

[[folder:Manhua]]
* ''Manhua/MyBelovedMother'' is set in a future where robots were integrated into human society, but are treated with disdain by the human citizens. The welfare department notably had robot caretakers issued to orphans, including the protagonist Sinbell, to be RaisedByRobots, only for these orphans to be looked down upon by their peers for having "machines as parents" - a younger classmate from Sinbell's school was actually ''forced to drop out'' from the constant bullying due to having a robot mother!
[[/folder]]

* In ''Fanfic/{{Synthesis}}'', a ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' fanfic, the Crypton staffs sees the Vocaloids (humans turned into [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot human-like robots]] but still keep their original personalities) as nothing but singing robots. Rhapsody Atsume, the only scientist who can operates the Synthesis machine, are the only exception among them.

* In the last episode of ''Series/TotalRecall2070'', [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Farve]]'s creator is revealed to be this, and aware of it. As it puts it after [[SecretTestOfCharacter testing]] Farve, "just because [it] knows its creation shall have a conscience doesn't mean [it] itself has one". What makes Farve a total success for his creator is that ''he'' is indeed [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots far more than a machine]].

* Played with in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** While human-made "smart" [=AIs=] are basically trans-human minds capable of both intellectual and emotional development (due to the fact that they're made by literally scanning human brains), they're regarded primarily as tools, and don't seem to have any real "rights". However, the general populace does recognize them as being sentient, and the humans who actually work with them often treat them more as fellow co-workers and friends rather than mere devices, with the close bond between the Master Chief and his AI companion Cortana being one of the key emotional cornerstones of the series; a parallel could perhaps be made to real-life relationships between some slaves and their masters, with the former having no real rights, but with the latter still ultimately regarding him/her as worthy of friendship and respect. The [=AIs=] themselves generally take pride in serving their masters, with even the one AI secret society we know of only wanting to ''help'' humanity as a whole. However, when an AI goes rampant (which is the terminal phase of its natural life cycle due to it mentally developing so much that it inevitably "thinks" itself to death), it will often lash out against the limited terms and rights of its existence. Naturally, the UNSC's main method of preventing rampancy is to simply terminate the [=AIs=] before they develop "too much". As mentioned in the "Literature" section, ''Literature/HaloSaintsTestimony'' explores this tension between ''what'' [=AIs=] are versus ''how'' they're treated.
** Meanwhile, human-made "dumb" [=AIs=] are non-sentient programs made for relatively basic tasks, such as the on-the-move mission briefing provided by [[VideoGame/HaloReach Auntie Dot]], with most barely having any personality whatsoever. While humans occasionally form some attachment to their assigned "dumb" AI, such [=AIs=] are treated even worse than "smart" [=AIs=], since they're mass-produced ''literal tools''. That said, one exception to this is the strong relationship between "Vergil" (a subroutine of the New Mombasa Superintendent AI) and Sadie Endesha.
** While the Forerunners generally viewed all of their highly intelligent artificial creations as nothing more than tools, with not even the fully sentient Huragok/Engineers being accorded any type of personhood, they did often trust them with immense command authority; this would backfire on them when their most advanced AI (and many others) decided to side with the Flood instead, despite the Forerunners viewing an AI revolt as inconceivable. In fairness, this was due to the Flood using the "logic plague" to convert said AI into believing that the Flood were in the right over the Forerunners. However, there is at least one genuine AI-Forerunner friendship known, between Guilty Spark and [[spoiler:the [=IsoDidact=]]], though that's mainly because [[spoiler:the former WasOnceAMan who was a dear companion of the latter]].
** ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' makes this one of [[spoiler: a revived Cortana]]'s reasons for [[spoiler:her]] harsh methods of dealing with dissidents opposing her plan of enforced peace. Since [=AIs=] live under the threat of death for disobedience constantly, [[spoiler: Cortana]] views it as a perfectly legitimate way of governing the galaxy. When Locke quibbles that [=AIs=] aren't born but built, [[spoiler: Cortana]] gets very hostile and sarcastically mentions the trope word for word, revealing how much it's bothered [[spoiler:her]] that humans don't treat [=AIs=] well.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'': What Vindel Mauser thought for the overall of Lemon's W-series. Before his {{retcon}}, Axel Almer used to have the same mindset (only maybe more extreme), but after {{retcon}}, he got better. Duminuss also utters this to Lamia Loveless if they ever meet in battle, which she vehemently denied.
* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'': Jin's response after Alisa getting beaten to crap by Lars to the point of shutting down is this. "Good riddance. I should've built one that protects me better". [[TranquilFury Lars doesn't take it well.]]
* KOS-MOS of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' is often thought of as just a machine (and for most of the series, she is).

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', there is a man trying to get an escaped android he owned returned to him. If asked if this is cruel, he'll claim that you can't enslave a robot any more than you can enslave a toaster or a water purifier. The android itself, it must be noted, disagrees and finds human allies who share its views.
** This becomes a major theme in ''VideoGame/Fallout4''. The Institute creates fully sentient androids (known as [[FantasticSlur synths]]) and uses them both as slave labor and to infiltrate the Commonwealth (via KillAndReplace) to do their dirty work above ground. The Institute regards synths as merely tools, while other factions see them differently. The [[UndergroundRailroad Railroad]] views synths as people and helps those synths who have escaped the Institute to start new lives in the outside world, while the Brotherhood of Steel views synths as abominations to be destroyed alongside their creators. [[spoiler:When one of their own, Paladin Danse, is revealed to be a synth, they all (but Scribe Haylen, who defends him) immediately start referring to him as [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]]]].
* In the Lonesome Road DLC of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', ED-E reveals it was painfully experimented on by the orders of [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Colonel Autumn]], much to the outrage of its creator Dr. Whitley - and possibly the Courier.
** If you ask Trudy, the bartender in Goodsprings, what she knows about Victor (a robot with a cowboy personality who saved your life) she will consistently refer to him as "it" even when you refer to him as "he".
*** Then again, she seems to find him creepy, rather than disliking him because he's a robot.
** Ulysses really seems to hate ED-E. Just listen to the scorn in his voice when he says "that ''machine'''".
*** Justified, as Ulysses is [[spoiler: aware that ED-E is the one who sent the signal that destroyed the Divide.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', [[spoiler:when Luna was presented to a young Kyle after he asked Dr. Klim for a mother, the child refused to acknowledge her, seeing her as just a robot who couldn't really feel. He interpreted her genuine feelings of sadness as "just clever programming"]].
* In ''VideoGame/Crysis3'', Claire holds this view towards Prophet, which is strange, considering she knows full well that he's most assuredly not.
-->'''Prophet''': My name is Prophet.\\
'''Claire''': You don't have a name. ''People'' have names. ''You'' have a callsign and a goddamn serial number.
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', TEC calls himself this [[spoiler: during his final moments, to convince Mario and co. to stop wasting time worrying about him and to go save Peach.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Headlander}}'', [[MissionControl Earl]] tells you to not worry about killing the [[MechaMooks Shepherds]] and stealing their bodies, because they're "just robots", as opposed to the [[BrainUploading uploaded humans]] that comprise the civilian population. [[spoiler:Even though Earl himself [[RoboticReveal is also]] [[BenevolentAI a computer]]; he apologizes for the deception when he reveals this, noting that after [[AIIsACrapshoot Methuselah]] nobody would trust an AI.]]
* In ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' the protagonists considers Machines Lifeform just machine that replicate human behavior without understanding it. Double as FantasticRacism since the protagonists themselves are androids but being human-made instead of alien-made like the machines they view themselves as superior.
* Heart-Man and Mama from ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' use the Beaches as proof that no matter how smart the AI becomes humanity will always be superior. The proof of an afterlife for them debunks AI ever understanding the concept of death or self-awareness since they can't have the connection with it that humans are born with.

* The Nemesites in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' have [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence both sentient and non-sentient robots.]] When [[BigBad Fructose Riboflavin]] destroys a robot guard during a jailbreak, he [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/383 expresses disappointment that the guard ''wasn't'' sentient and couldn't feel ''pain'' at the experience.]] Riboflavin is [[CardCarryingVillain not a nice man.]]
* There seems to be some discrimination against [=AIs=] in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', despite the fact that none of them have TurnedAgainstTheirMasters--[[DeusEstMachina except for one]], and that's because his masters were [[FantasticRacism xenophobic]] [[ScaryDogmaticAliens warmongers]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}}'' is unusual in that [[http://spacetrawler.com/2011/01/25/spacetrawler-114/ the robots themselves admit that they're just machines.]]
-->'''Pierrot:''' I guess you're the closest thing I have to someone who cares on this space station.\\
'''Potty-bot:''' I was ''programmed'' to care! I'm a product of ''Wastebiotics'' Brr-buhm-brrrrrrrrrrrr! Specializing in emotions people are ''algorithmed'' to empathize with!
* After the AI War told in the written backstory of ''Webcomic/CwynhildsLoom'', robot development is restricted to prevent any machine from reaching sentience or looking human.

* Invoked in ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/01/19/a-perfect-plan/ where Mittens touts "highly vaporizable robot valets" as one of the selling points of his "limousine service."]] [[BigBad Zenith]] is arguably an aversion, [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/03/04/are-you-still-sure-you-want-to-reboot/ even after being rebooted in Safe Mode]], though [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/09/16/six-very-special-panels/ no one seems particularly broken up when Nin Wah's carelessness effectively kills her.]]
* ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse'': The warriors of U19 seemingly subscribe to this school of thought.

* Marendar from the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' online serials is a being specifically created to kill the denizens of the Matoran Universe in case they don't shut down by themselves after Mata Nui (a HumongousMecha housing said universe) fulfills his mission. Their creators, the Great Beings, thought that the MU inhabitants would still be the same non-sentient machines they had designed them as, but instead, they developed an entire culture, making Marendar an unintentional mass murderer. This issue wasn't touched upon much because the series was LeftHanging.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Second Chance" this is both played straight and averted by the Galactic Commonwealth. On the one hand, mining robots only focus on their job and combat droids are a pitiless yet efficient replacement for soldiers of flesh and bone which can be replaced. On the other though, as technology improves beyond expected limits, A.I. begins to formulate more and more complex thoughts, while humanity itself slowly "improve themselves" to become almost machines.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Jenny]] encounters a carnival filled with {{Single Task Robot}}s. She's offended at "her kind" being used as servants, but Tuck (rather insensitively) insists "they're just stupid robots". In a subversion, [[JerkassHasAPoint Tuck is entirely right]]: these robots are completely incapable of doing anything but running amusement park rides, and wreak havoc trying to be "free". The show itself seems to take a sliding-scale view of sentience. Robots like the ones in the carnival ''are'' 'just machines' because they lack independence or self-awareness, whereas other robots like Jenny are fully sapient and universally recognized as such.
* There's at least one or two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' all about Cyborg realizing he's "more than just a robot". In one of these episodes, the robotic villain Atlas inverts the trope; after trashing Cyborg and kidnapping the other Titans, he mocks him by saying "I am all robot, and you are only human." Later, however, when Cyborg comes back and defeats him in a rematch, Atlas yields, saying he's the better robot. Cyborg's response?
-->'''Cyborg:''' No. I'm the better ''person''.
* Averted in the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' metaseries. While some ill-informed fleshlings are so foolish as to refer to Cybertronian life as being "just machines", it is an established fact, proven several times over that Transformers have souls (they call them Sparks, and they have a special container in their chest to hold it), an extant God (Primus, whose sleeping body ''is'' the Transformer homeworld of Cybertron), and an afterlife (the Well of All Sparks, where All are One. It is proven, but nonetheless mysterious). Interestingly none of the above is established for the aforementioned fleshlings -- meaning that, given the evidence, it is entirely possible that the machines are more "human" than the humans, by the definitions humans use. The is also no denying that Cybertronians show a depth and range of emotion remarkably similar to humans, and are capable of amazing displays of compassion... And just as capable of savage and relentless hatred.
* The robots built by Sumdac's company in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' to perform manual labour and generally run Detroit are indeed just machines. At one point, Soundwave attempts to have these robots [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters revolt]], believing that logically humanity ought to serve robots. Upon enacting his plan, Sari is quick to point out that the robots haven't gained sentience, they are simply following their programming; [[RobotsEnslavingRobots programming that Soundwave hacked]], which Soundwave doesn't deny for one second.
* Played for laughs in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', where a spoof of "I Robot" (based on the "Literature/AdamLink" story by Eando Binder) had Rosie from ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' being accused of murdering George. At Rosie's trial, she claims to be innocent and the judge remarks "Well, maybe, but just to be safe...", Rosie is then promptly smashed.
* Zig-zagged in ''WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'', with the Cybernetic Humanoid Assault System, or [[FunWithAcronyms C.H.A.S.]]. Most of the troopers dismiss him as a troublesome ([[JobStealingRobot if highly competent]]) piece of equipment, but Higgens insists that C.H.A.S. should be made a member of the team. Towards the end of the episode, C.H.A.S. leads the squad out of a minefield ambush and performs a HeroicSacrifice for Higgens. When Higgens tries to get C.H.A.S. to save himself, C.H.A.S. insists on this trope.
-->'''C.H.A.S.''': I was never alive.

* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Morty reluctantly shoots a guard after Rick tells him "It's okay, they're just robots!" The insectoid guard falls down screaming and gushing blood while an associate frantically yells for someone to notify the guard's wife; turns out [[MetaphoricallyTrue Rick just]] ''[[MetaphoricallyTrue called]]'' [[MetaphoricallyTrue them robots because they're bureaucrats and he doesn't respect them.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', in "Downfall of a Droid" and the next episode "Duel of the Droids", R2-D2 is captured. While Anakin Skywalker is extremely upset about the loss of his friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn't understand what the big deal is.
* In a later season episode of ''[[WesternAnimation.TheSmurfs1981 The Smurfs]]'', Clockwork Smurf is treated as just a machine by Brainy Smurf until near the end of the episode, after Clockwork deals with Gargamel and Scruple when his Heart of Gold was replaced with a heart of stone and afterward was restored to his original function with a bit of heart-to-heart reasoning from his creator Handy.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', most of Gyro's inventions [[AIIsACrapshoot turn evil]]. What Gyro himself has failed to notice (but Louie has) is that nearly all of them seen on-screen (though not [[spoiler:B.O.Y.D., who is normally a pacifist but was forced into evil by Dr. Akita]]) do so after someone (often [[InsufferableGenius Gyro himself]]) talks about them being unfeeling machines.

* In ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'' as well. Notably, [[spoiler:a robot boy is going to be sold for parts despite still being partly alive. Another robot buys him to raise as a child.]]
-->'''Junkyard Worker:''' [[ArcWords 500 Zeus a body.]]
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' chapter 75: ''The Logic of Illogic'', Hakase viewed Chachamaru as Just a Machine until she found Chachamaru's video folders, which were loaded with shots of [[RoboShip Negi]] (and [[KindHeartedCatLover cats]]).
** The most convincing moment being: [[GrowBeyondTheirProgramming Chachamaru stopping Hakase from further inspecting those folders]] [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters (with force).]]
** Happens again to Chachamaru in chapter 312 when [[spoiler: Quartum [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe cuts her in half]] and tries to kill her (even referring to her as "a doll"). Note that this was after it had been unquestionably proven that she had a soul. [[PapaWolf Negi]] [[CurbStompBattle was]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe not]] [[LaserGuidedKarma amused]].]]
* Subverted in ''Anime/MazingerZ'' universe.
** Kouji and his friends usually felt no remorse when they blew up giant robots. But when they destroyed a {{Robeast}} acted more like a human being than a machine, or when a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ridiculously Human Robot]] died, they often felt sad. When Kouji killed the Gamia sisters (three identical android assassins), they were so human-looking he felt sickened and disturbed. Dr. Hell and his CoDragons nearly always regarded his robotic soldiers like Just Machines and disposable, but there are exceptions: Baron Ashura called Gamia Q1, Q2, and Q3 his/her "daughters", and he actually grieved their deaths (the person who is capable of machine-gunning between laughs a group of survivors of a shipwreck).
** And then you have Minerva-X, a HumongousMecha FemBot that was capable of thinking, feeling and acting on her own. Kouji and his friends treated her as if she was a person and Kouji went so far to [[spoiler:bury her after her death.]]

* The CC Corp in ''Franchise/DotHack'' treats [=AIs=] as errant data and nothing more.

* General Uranus and Colonel Hades had something like this going on against the [[ArtificialHuman Bioroids]] in the ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'' movie. Needless to say, they are horribly wrong, since all the Bioroid constraints are artificially added for the sole purpose of making them protect, rather than threaten the humanity. And then there's the supercomputer Gaia, which does deserve this kind of opinion but is actually still more moral than its human operators.
* ''Anime/TheBigO'': Roger Smith flip flops between believing this or [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots the opposite]] regarding androids (specifically R. Dorothy Wayneright) throughout the series. Dorothy herself flip-flops on the opinion.

* Hazanko of ''Manga/OutlawStar'' thinks this of Melfina.
* A major theme of ''Anime/ArmitageIII'', with an accompanying amount of senseless robot-killing.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Zone has this sort of view about the androids he created based on his deceased friends.

* ''Anime/AndroidKikaiderTheAnimation'' addresses this theme repeatedly. Jiro is an android built with a conscience to give him a moral compass like humans. The legitimacy of his existence is rejected at various points by the people around him and leaves a deep impact on how he views himself.

* In the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' story "Out of Time", [[spoiler:the android ComicBook/{{Hourman}} Matthew Tyler]] uses this argument to justify [[spoiler:sacrificing himself in Rex Tyler's place fighting against Extant in the past to save the universe]]. [[spoiler:Rex denies this and declares that Matthew is "as alive as any of us". While Matt is grateful for this, he still goes ahead with the sacrifice.]] FridgeLogic sets in, though, in [[spoiler:that the android Hourman is from millennia in the future, and yet his society ''still'' seems to be grappling with exactly the same sort of questions about androids' basic worth that present-day DC Earth is, despite present-day DC Earth having ''lots'' of sentient robots already]].
* Many, many comics in ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' feature this, with humans almost universally hating and mistreating robots (the few that didn't were usually regarded as exceptions) despite the latter possessing human-like intelligence, quirks, feelings, and so on. Sometimes got to the point that you started to wonder who built them since nobody seemed to want them around... Even a man like Judge Dredd, who will unhesitatingly champion mutant rights, considers them nothing more than sophisticated tools.
* This is the opinion humans in the future have about droids in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures''. It's eventually deconstructed when one of them decides to change history to give robots the same rights. Her plan is fooled, but eventually droids obtain the status of citizens. Even when droids do obtain the rights of citizens, it's deconstructed. After Lyla accidentally shoots a colleague, she has to go on trial, since she now has the same rights ''and responsibilities'' as a human.

* When ComicBook/IronMan and [[ComicBook/DeathsHeadMarvelComics Death's Head]] team up against Recorder 451, Death's Head is surprised that Tony hasn't ruled out killing their target, and asks if he's one of those heroes who have a code against killing [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman that doesn't apply to robots]]. Tony assures him that [[SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX some of his best friends are robots]], before realizing "That sounds kind of robot racist, right?"

* ''ComicBook/GIJoeVsTheTransformers'' has the Joes ordered to shut down Wheeljack and Bumblebee, who have revealed themselves to the Joes to get their help stopping Cobra from using the excavated Autobots and Decepticons as war machines, so that they can be dismantled and studied while they simply nuke Cobra into oblivion. Duke reluctantly follows his orders until Wheeljack manages to warn them that nuclear weapons and Energon stockpiles ''[[EarthShatteringKaboom do not mix]]''.

* In ''Fanfic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Dr. Wily sometimes has this view on robots, and the Conduit ''definitely'' does.

* This question is debated by the characters in ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'' with respect to HAL, the MasterComputer of the USS ''Discovery'' who [[AIIsACrapshoot went berserk and killed his crew]] in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. When the astronauts' lives are threatened (by external factors this time), it becomes a [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman major source of conflict]] between those who want to lie to him and disconnect him if he fails to perform as demanded (thus putting his own existence at risk), or tell him the truth and allow him to make his own choice.
** It goes beyond that because Chandra [[spoiler:offers to stay with Discovery and share HAL's fate, whatever that may be. HAL, who by this time realizes what the most likely outcome is, unequivocally tells him to leave.]]

* In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', Sarah Connor tries to invoke this when trying to convince John to destroy the Terminator reprogrammed to protect them.
-->'''John:''' Don't kill him.\\
'''Sarah:''' ''It'', John. Not "him", "it".\\
'''John:''' Alright, "it"! But we need "it"!
* In ''Film/IRobot'', Spooner says to the android Sonny "Human beings have dreams. Even dogs have dreams, but not you, you are just a machine." Subverted, since he is one of the few people who actually sees robots as not just machines (and loathes them for it... [[CharacterDevelopment at first]]).
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', in which V'Ger dismisses organic life forms as [[CallAHumanAMeatbag "carbon units"]] and does not consider them truly alive, unlike machines. Played straight when Bones reminds Deckard that the Ilia clone is just a mechanism.
* The attitude taken towards David in ''Film/{{Prometheus}}''.
* ''Film/BicentennialMan'':
** A recurring line divides Andrew from the rest of the Martin family: "Don't invest your emotions in a machine". Despite calling Andrew by male pronouns and advocating on his behalf, Sir and Little Miss consider him to be a ''machine'', even if he's a highly-advanced machine. Portia says this at first, and Andrew has to work hard to convince her that he's something more and she ''can'' fall in love with him.
** Not long after Andrew gets rejected by Portia, he and Rupert are arguing about Galatea's PersonalityChip and Rupert slips out that she's just a machine. Naturally, Andrew takes offense to this because he's just gotten the same treatment from Portia.
* Demolished in the Spanish 2014 movie ''Film/{{Automata}}'': in one scene the protagonist tells a robot that it's 'just a machine', the robot fires back that that's like saying the (human) protagonist is '[[IronicEcho just an ape]]'.
* Alex Murphy has to deal with this crap all the time in the ''Franchise/RoboCop'' movies. This is despite the fact that the people who dehumanize him usually know full well that he's a cyborg with most of his brain still intact.
* In ''Film/ExMachina'', [[spoiler:this is Nathan's stance on his creations; whatever pride he may have in them, he clearly thinks nothing of repeatedly dismantling them and starting over]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' by Tony and Steve, who want to justify why the Vision, an android, can [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield lift Mjolnir]] and they can't. Thor isn't convinced.
--> '''Steve''': But if you put the hammer in an elevator--\\
'''Tony''': --It would still go up.\\
'''Steve''': Elevator's not worthy.
* ''Film/Extinction2018'': In a flashback, one debater on TV says androids are this, and therefore have no rights, while humans can destroy them at will if they wish.
* ''Film/ReturnToOz'': The clockwork man Tiktok is capable of thinking, but as he is only a machine, he "can-not be sor-ry or hap-py, no mat-ter what hap-pens". When the characters are speculating who will be turned into ornaments, Jack says "Tiktok's not even alive", to which Tiktok replies "I have always valued my lifelessness". But near the end of the film, Tiktok believes his steel brains are damaged, and he cries green oily tears.

* OlderThanTelevision: The clockwork man Tiktok in the Literature/LandOfOz series, introduced in ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907), frequently says "I am mere-ly a ma-chine" or some variant. His makers even engraved "Can do anything except live" ''on his body''.

* ''[[http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/1011250014/1011250014.htm The Gulf Between]]'' by Tom Godwin gives a reason for this: "[[spoiler:A machine does not ''care''.]]"
* Opinion of AI in Creator/{{Ken MacLeod}}'s ''Literature/FallRevolution'' series tends to be divided. Truly synthetic intelligences and human uploads are often considered to be "flatlines"; a realistic simulation of a sentience but nothing going on beneath the surface. They tend to be classed as property rather than individuals. The Fast Folk, an AI and upload civilisation, are treated as horrifyingly dangerous but still "people", in a sense.
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', this is the Drode's excuse for setting the self-destruct timer on the Chee when he's not supposed to kill any sentient beings; according to him, they don't count, as they're merely "machines".
* In the ''Franchise/{{Doctor Who|ExpandedUniverse}}'' novel ''Death and Diplomacy'', the Doctor casually destroys a security droid with his umbrella -- then immediately turns around and admonishes the rest of his group not to take away [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the wrong lesson]].
* In fact this trope is OlderThanSteam. Thomas Hobbes--[[HobbesWasRight of all people]]--argues against it in the introduction to ''Leviathan'':
-->Nature (the art whereby God hath made and governs the world) is by the art of man, as in many other things, so in this also imitated, that it can make an artificial animal. For seeing life is but a motion of limbs, the beginning whereof is in some principal part within, why may we not say that all automata (engines that move themselves by springs and wheels as doth a watch) have an artificial life? For what is the heart, but a spring; and the nerves, but so many strings; and the joints, but so many wheels, giving motion to the whole body, such as was intended by the Artificer?
* ''Literature/AdventureHunters'': King Reyvas plans to replace human armies with war golems and thereby forever end death-by-war for living creatures. He feels justified in this because the golems are nothing more than walking weapons. [[spoiler: The golems develop sentience shortly after activation because their creator gave them a spark of life. When he realizes this, he realizes at the same time that his plan will end in failure and gives up.]]
* ''Literature/HaloSaintsTestimony'' revolves around Iona, an AI reaching the end of her legally allowed lifespan, making a legal appeal against her upcoming termination. [[spoiler:While the trial itself is nothing more than a simulation (though Iona herself certainly thought it was real), one of the two [=AIs=] running it hopes that the data gained will ease humanity into the idea of granting [=AIs=] genuine rights.]]
* In Creator/CTPhipps' ''Literature/AgentG'', this was the reasoning behind [[spoiler: the Letter project. Regular soldiers have rights, needs, and free will while the Letters were designed to be disposable SuperSoldier assassins who could be used like drones. It was stated this was LoopholeAbuse even then since they qualified as RidiculouslyHumanRobots. Also, subverted in the Letters are treated quite well in order to avoid a RobotUprising.]]
* ''Literature/SexRobotsAndVeganMeat:'' The publicity man for a start-up company making a SexBot considers this to be an advantage: misogynists can beat up their sex bot instead of beating up their wives and girlfriends "'they can be angry at this, and beat this, and that should be fine –’ he throws open his arms – ‘because it will not feel a thing, we promise!’." The author thinks it more likely that beating up mechanical women will mentally normalise beating up real women.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' in general draws a distinction between the special cases like Data and the Doctor, and the ubiquitous ship computers responsible for getting everything done in the background. Despite the fact that ship computers can pass the Turing Test with ease, act on their own initiative, and occasionally even display signs of emotion, this is never investigated or even mentioned in-story: ship computers are always just-machines and limited to being background elements (this is doubly notable since some of the special case characters, such as the Doctor, ''run on'' a ship computer).
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
*** The episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E9TheMeasureOfAMan The Measure of a Man]]" puts Data on trial to determine whether he is a sentient being with rights as a Federation citizen, or merely a machine and thus Federation property. The entire debate overlooks the fact that they had already granted him an officer's commission and rank (even as Picard tries to argue that medals and honors Data has received for courage would suggest he is a person), which would simply not apply to property. It's not as if the ship's computer has a rank or can issue orders to other personnel.
*** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E9TheQualityOfLife The Quality of Life]]" features Data trying to stand up for the rights of several auto-tool probes that seem to be developing and demonstrating sentience (and even self-preservation instincts). At issue is where to draw the line between an intelligent tool and a sentient being, especially when considering sending the probes on suicidal assignments to save the lives of human beings. In the end, the solution they arrive at is to give the probes a ''choice'' about whether to accept the mission (they do, but come up with [[TakeAThirdOption a better plan]]).
*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E22Emergence Emergence]]", the ship itself does indeed become self-aware and sentient, and immediately begins pursuing its own agenda. Captain Picard's response: immediately order the crew to do everything possible to communicate with and assist the ''Enterprise'' in its goal -- which turns out to be to reproduce and spawn a progeny, before dying and returning to its original non-sentient state. By this point everyone on the ship is in agreement -- if it's a machine that thinks, then it's as much a person as their admired and respected Lieutenant Commander (who later becomes captain of the ''Enterprise'' in the expanded universe). When Data asks Picard why he chose to risk the entire crew and even the Federation itself if the spawn turns out to be hostile, Picard points out that the sentient Enterprise's mindset was an amalgamation of all their dealings with the ship and its computer. "If our dealings with the ship have been honorable, then we can only trust that the result of those dealings will be honorable. In either case, whatever we encounter down the line -- we will have earned."
** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': The episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS7E18AuthorAuthor Author, Author]]" questioned the rights of the ship's [[ProjectedMan holographic Doctor]]. His status was background theme that ran throughout the series. He was initially considered nothing more than a piece of technology that was turned off and on but he eventually came to be viewed as a full-fledged member of the crew and a person in his own right. When the question of whether the Doctor was legally considered a person in "Author, Author", the writers completely ignored the fact that Federation courts had already decided that issue back in the above-mentioned ''TNG'' episode "The Measure of a Man". A [[DistantFinale glimpse of the future]] in the SeriesFinale "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS7E23Endgame Endgame]]" suggests that holographic [=AIs=] would eventually get equal rights.
** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E03TheEndIsTheBeginning The End is the Beginning]]", Rios treats his Emergency Medical Hologram as nothing more than a program.
---->'''Rios:''' He's just an EMH.\\
'''Emil:''' ''[annoyed]'' Just.
*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E06TheImpossibleBox The Impossible Box]]", Narissa contemptuously refers to Soji as merely being this when chiding Narek over his affections for her. This is presumably the general Zhat Vash opinion on synthetics.
---->'''Narissa:''' You are in love with her. With it. A program, a machine.
* In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', "it's just a machine" is pretty much a mantra among the characters who have harsher views on robots and AI. Sarah Connor and Derek Reese are both quick to remind John that Cameron, the resident Terminator, is exactly this. John, however, feels differently about machines in general and Cameron in particular, due to his experiences with "Uncle Bob". It doesn't help that Cameron is a RobotGirl who repeatedly saves his life and that he feels indebted to and ends up developing a sort of attraction towards. This is all complicated by the fact that the show's AI characters genuinely do seem to exist on a spectrum in terms of the extent to which they have individual personality and free will, with [[spoiler:Cameron, Weaver, and John Henry]] definitely appearing to qualify.
* In the last episode of ''Series/TotalRecall2070'', [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Farve]]'s creator is revealed to be this, and aware of it. As it puts it after [[SecretTestOfCharacter testing]] Farve, "just because [it] knows its creation shall have a conscience doesn't mean [it] itself has one". What makes Farve a total success for his creator is that ''he'' is indeed [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots far more than a machine]].

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', in the season 7 finale did this in probably the worst way possible:
-->'''[[AIIsACrapshoot Brainiac]]:''' You can't kill me, Clark. You could never kill a man in cold blood!\\
'''Clark:''' [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman You're not a man]].
* ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' has an episode featuring a robot (well, she's called a "cyborg", but all other dialogue in the episode indicates that she's 100% machine) who is about as [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots ridiculously human]] as you can get, and yet, several characters insist on giving her the Just A Machine treatment. After Sky fires her from their military training center, he (and all the Rangers that supported him in this) gets a WhatTheHellHero speech from Cruger, and they're forced to get her back.
-->'''Valko:''' She's not a person! She's just a cyborg.\\
'''Cruger:''' And ''you're'' [[PreAssKickingOneLiner just a criminal!]]
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Most people see Harold Finch's Machine as just a fancy surveillance computer. Root strongly disagrees, insisting that he created a new form of life--one that is far more perfect than humans ever will be, as demonstrated by her use of feminine pronouns to refer to it. Harold slowly starts to think that maybe she has a point, but he never goes as far as she does.
-->'''Arthur''': Your child is a dancing star...\\
'''Finch''': It's not my child, it's a machine!\\
'''Arthur''': A false dichotomy, it's all electricity. Does it make you laugh? Does it make you weep?\\
'''Finch''': Yes...\\
'''Arthur''': What's more human?
* ''Series/DarkMatter2015'': Boone says this regarding androids, but is called out by Sarah (who exists only as a sentient digital avatar) and later apologizes to the Android over it.
* ''Series/OutOfThisWorld1962'': "[[Recap/OutOfThisWorldLittleLostRobot Little Lost Robot]]": Mr Black, whose role is [[AscendedExtra expanded]], is much more bigoted in this play than in the [[Literature/LittleLostRobot original story]]. He hates the robots so much that when Dr Calvin finds which of the Nester units had been "lost", he goes down to beat it up instead of safely destroying it from up in the control room the way his source material counterpart did.
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSlimGoodbody'': Played with in a very odd way: the resident RobotBuddy, B-1, acknowledged that a robot like him can't GrowBeyondTheirProgramming, and indeed can't do anything at all unless he's programmed to do it. In fact, he crashes if he doesn't regularly receive new data via a tape drive in his chest. Despite all this, none of the other characters ever treat him with any less respect than they would a human, and in general they treat the emotions of machines with the same validity they would a human's emotions.
* Combined with ExactWords and RulesLawyer, this is how IG-11 convinces ''Series/TheMandalorian'' to remove his helmet to have his injuries treated. The Mandalorian's creed forbids one of them to ever let anyone else see their face, but the wording is ''very'' specific about what counts as "anyone else":
-->'''IG-11:''' I need to remove your helmet if I am to save you.\\
'''The Mandalorian:''' Try it and I'll kill you. It is forbidden. No living thing has seen me without my helmet since I swore the Creed.\\
'''IG-11:''' I am not a living thing.

[[folder:Mahua]]

* Downplayed but still present with Dr. Young from ''Podcast/{{SAYER}}'', who talks to artificial intelligence normally and takes their development very seriously, but disregards their autonomy and has no problem raising one in what prove to be horribly traumatizing conditions, which he pays for dearly.

* The warforged in ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' are very much not just machines, and the struggle against this view is part of the setting: the nation of Thrane keeps many warforged in "indentured servitude" to pay off the expense of constructing them, and a lot of people around the other nations think of them as little more than weapons waiting to go off. Some warforged take the exact opposite tack and declare that there is no "just" to being a machine, and consider themselves the superior lifeform.

* When ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/DeathsHead team up against Recorder 451, Death's Head is surprised that Tony hasn't ruled out killing their target, and asks if he's one of those heroes who have a code against killing [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman that doesn't apply to robots]]. Tony assures him that [[SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX some of his best friends are robots]], before realizing "That sounds kind of robot racist, right?"

* In a later season episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', Clockwork Smurf is treated as just a machine by Brainy Smurf until near the end of the episode, after Clockwork deals with Gargamel and Scruple when his Heart of Gold was replaced with a heart of stone and afterward was restored to his original function with a bit of heart-to-heart reasoning from his creator Handy.

* Some people say this about ComicBook/RedTornado, with even fellow superheroes saying that he was just a "really well-made machine". He briefly lost custody of his (adopted) daughter because of this. This is especially frustrating since in the Red Tornado's original origin, he is a Sylph (spirit of air) placed inside of a robot body. Meaning he ''provably'' has a soul, unlike the average human.

* In the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' story "Out of Time", [[spoiler:the android Hourman Matthew Tyler]] uses this argument to justify [[spoiler:sacrificing himself in Rex Tyler's place fighting against Extant in the past to save the universe]]. [[spoiler:Rex denies this and declares that Matthew is "as alive as any of us". While Matt is grateful for this, he still goes ahead with the sacrifice.]]
** FridgeLogic sets in, though, in that the android Hourman is from millennia in the future, and yet his society ''still'' seems to be grappling with exactly the same sort of questions about androids' basic worth that present-day DC Earth is, despite present-day DC Earth having ''lots'' of sentient robots already.

* The opinion humans in the future have about droids in ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures: It's eventually deconstructed when one of them decides to change history to give robots the same rights. Her plan is fooled, but eventually droids obtain the status of citizens.
** Even when droids do obtain the rights of citizens, it's deconstructed. After Lyla accidentally shoots a colleague, she has to go on trial, since she now has the same rights ''and responsibilities'' as a human.
* ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'': When ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} receives his [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] [[TookALevelInBadAss upgrade]] into his SkeleBot form, Superman discovers that Brainiac has laid waste to an entire planet's civilization, destruction far beyond anything he had ever done before. Superman seriously considers outright destroying him, despite his ThouShaltNotKill policy, justifying it because Brainiac is Just a Machine.
* When ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/DeathsHead team up against Recorder 451, Death's Head is surprised that Tony hasn't ruled out killing their target, and asks if he's one of those heroes who have a code against killing [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman that doesn't apply to robots.]] Tony assures him that [[SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX some of his best friends are robots]], before realizing "That sounds kind of robot racist, right?"

* The Devil's Due ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' vs. ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' miniseries had the Joes ordered to shut down Wheeljack and Bumblebee, who had revealed themselves to the Joes to get their help stopping Cobra form using the excavated Autobots and Decepticons as war machines, so they could be dismantled and studied while they simply nuked Cobra into oblivion. Duke reluctantly follows his orders until Wheeljack manages to warn them that nuclear weapons and Energon stockpiles ''[[EarthShatteringKaboom do not mix]]''.

** As Britannia’s FantasticRacism extends to nonhumans, this is initially how they view the Cybertronians, both Autobot and Decepticon alike, with Lloyd, Cecile, Suzaku, and Euphemia being the only exceptions.

* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' fic “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1908149/1/Institutionalized Institutionalized]]” features Janeway being sent for psychiatric evaluation after Voyager returns to Earth, with the various doctors dismissing Chakotay’s appeal that the Doctor be allowed to see Janeway as they consider him “just” a hologram, even as the Voyager crew affirm that the Doctor is the chief medical officer of a starship and deserves appropriate respect.

To them, it's [[TitleDrop "just a machine"]]. Its only value is the monetary expense incurred in building, cloning, coding, or buying it. [[ExpendableClone It has no rights]], you can't even be accused of animal cruelty for beating it (at worst, of being wasteful or having poor taste), even when it's unique and has NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup. The humans will doubt or deny that they can GrowBeyondTheirProgramming and learn to feel, and if they ''can'' feel, then these feelings are ignored or treated as less valid than a human's smallest whimsy.

* The view of the PsychicPowers-wielding Spiritualist civs in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' is that synths, who have no psionic presence, therefore have no souls or consciousness. This includes [[BrainUploading civilizations that have uploaded themselves into robotic bodies]] -- the Spiritualists regard this as a mass suicide that leaves behind only mockeries of life. Suffice it to say, the pro-AI Materialist civs that oppose them regard the "kill it on sight" policy Spiritualists have on sentient-seeming AI as superstition-driven genocide.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'': Boone says this regarding androids, but is called out by Sarah (who exists only as a sentient digital avatar) and later apologizes to the Android over it.

For whatever reason, the author decides that in her setting the A.I.s, clones, or whatnot may be [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentience sentient]], but never [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapience sapient]]. They can fall anywhere on the SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence -- they may [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist know a lot]] or have [[GoodWithNumbers incredible computing power]], but lack that final ''je ne sais quoi'' that separates the EmptyShell from a [[BecomeARealBoy real boy.]] Even the [[DeusEstMachina godlike machine intellect]] is somehow lacking a crucial human component that gives its existence purpose and meaning. Typically, these settings have the [[ComputerVoice placidly monotone]] ship's computer help the crew when asked, but never act on its own. (Alternatively, they may be non-sapient or have very flawed sort of consciousness simply as a result of technological limitations)

It can get pretty odd when the machines themselves claim this is the case, usually to justify being the one to make a HeroicSacrifice. Such scenes usually invoke empathy for the robot, and lead the audience to [[TragicRobot empathise with them]]. Note that the trope has seldom been played straight since the earliest days of science fiction. If it is implied to be self aware there will at least be a lampshade on this trope.

** The most convincing moment being: [[GrowBeyondTheirProgramming Chachamaru stopping Hakase from futher inspecting those folders]] [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters (with force).]]

** Kouji and his friends usually felt no remorse when they blew up giant robots. But when they destroyed a {{Robeast}} acted more like an human being than a machine, or when a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ridiculously human Robot]] died, they often felt sad. When Kouji killed the Gamia sisters (three identical android assassins), they were so human-looking he felt sickened and disturbed. Dr. Hell and his CoDragons nearly always regarded his robotic soldiers like Just Machines and disposable, but there are exceptions: Baron Ashura called Gamia Q1, Q2 and Q3 his/her "daughters", and he actually grieved their deaths (the person who is capable of machine-gunning between laughs a group of survivors of a shipwreck).

* In ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars'', the Abh, a genetically engineered race, regard themselves as still being humans, but according to enemy propoganda, 'Abh aren't people, they're organic machines', which is readily admitted as their true origin by an Abh not ten seconds after the propaganda is shown. They were specifically meant for long distance space exploration before faster than light technology had been fully developed.

* General Uranus and Colonel Hades had something like this going on against the [[ArtificialHuman Bioroids]] in the ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'' movie. Needless to say, they are horribly wrong, since all the Bioroid constraints are artificially added for the sole purpose of making them protect, rather than threaten the humanity. And then there's the supercomputer Gaia, which does deserve this kind of opinion, but is actually still more moral than its human operators.
* ''Anime/TheBigO'': Roger Smith flip flops between believing this or [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots the opposite]] regarding androids (specifically R. Dorothy Wayneright) throughout the series. Dorothy herself flipflops on the opinion.

* ''Anime/AndroidKikaiderTheAnimation'' addresses this theme repeatedly. Jiro is an android built with a conscience to give him a moral compass like humans. The legitimacy of his existence is rejected at various points by the people around him, and leaves a deep impact on how he views himself.

* Some people say this about ComicBook/RedTornado, with even fellow super-heroes saying that he was just a "really well-made machine". He briefly lost custody of his (adopted) daughter because of this. This is especially frustrating since in the Red Tornado's original origin, he is a Sylph (spirit of air) placed inside of a robot body. Meaning he ''provably'' has a soul, unlike the average human.

** FridgeLogic sets in, though, in that the android Hourman is from millenia in the future, and yet his society ''still'' seems to be grappling with exactly the same sort of questions about androids' basic worth that present day DC Earth is, despite present day DC Earth having ''lots'' of sentient robots already.

* In ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' episode "The Second Renaissance", we find out that the Machine War that drove humans underground and left the machines in charge of Earth was the result of a species-wide feeling of this on the part of humanity. It started with a robot called B1-66ER who murdered his owner because, in his words, he didn't want to die. Robots, referred to up to this point as cheap, unfeeling labor, were then increasingly persecuted by humanity until finally they founded their own nation, 01, in the Fertile Crescent. Humanity bombed them because the robots' cheap, well-made goods were sending human economies into a tailspin, and everything went downhill from there. During scenes of protests for equal rights for machines we see a lot of scenes of robots being attacked and destroyed without provocation.

** It goes beyond that, because Chandra [[spoiler:offers to stay with Discovery and share HAL's fate, whatever that may be. HAL, who by this time realizes what the most likely outcome is, unequivocally tells him to leave.]]

** Galloway refers to Optimus Prime as a "pile of scrap-metal" after his dead body is delivered back to base. And this is even after Optimus managed to verbally own the guy in a debate which featured topics such as [[HumansAreBastards human nature]] and whether they could defend themselves against a Decepticon invasion. Then again, Galloway is just a huge JerkAss.

** A recurring line divides Andrew from the rest of the Martin family; "Don't invest your emotions in a machine". Despite calling Andrew by male pronouns and advocating on his behalf, Sir and Little Miss consider him to be a ''machine'', even if he's a highly-advanced machine. Portia says this at first, and Andrew has to work hard to convince her that he's something more and she ''can'' fall in love with him.

* Demolished in the spanish 2014 movie ''Film/{{Automata}}'': in one scene the protagonist tell to a robot that it's 'just a machine', the robot fires back that that's like saying the (human) protagonist is '[[IronicEcho just an ape]]'.

** In the Literature/XWingSeries Corran considers his [[GuyInBack astromech droid]] Whistler to be almost family, someone he can talk about his wife or dad with, and bristles at the thought of putting a RestrainingBolt on him. Meanwhile his commander Wedge Antilles finds his cowardly R5 unit "Mynock" so annoying (it squeals during battles) that he wipes its memory and renames it Gate without a second thought. He actually treats Gate much better, so maybe it's just a personality issue (of course that means he changed the droid's personality to suit him better). And while we can't be sure how much Myn Donos bonds with his astromech Shiner, he does view the droid as the last survivor from his previous squadron and has a near-breakdown when Shiner is briefly disabled by an ion blast--[[spoiler:and a full-blown HeroicBSOD when Shiner is destroyed]]. In ''Solo Command'', Han Solo, Wraith Squadron, and at least a few officers have a party to to blow off steam. Wedge insists that the astromech droids all be included in the party, citing that they work hard and deserve time off too.

* In Creator/CTPhipps' ''Literature/AgentG'', this was the reasoning behind [[spoiler: the Letter project. Regular soldiers have rights, needs, and free will while the Letters were designed to be dispoable SuperSoldier assassins who could be used like drones. It was stated this was LoopholeAbuse even then since they qualified as RidiculouslyHumanRobots. Also, subverted in the Letters are treated quite well in order to avoid a RobotUprising.]]

** Many humans have this attitude towards the Cylons, and are clearly wrong, but the near extermination of humanity is bound to breed hatred.

* The Doctor in ''Series/DoctorWho'' has at times shown disdain towards [=AIs=]. Often this seems to come out of his (usually justified) disapproval of people who rely on non-sentient computers and other machines without thinking for themselves, but it sometimes extends to outright denial of the idea that computers can genuinely qualify as "people" at all. In particular, the Third Doctor in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath "The Green Death"]] refuses to recognise the BigBad BOSS as genuinely sentient in the face of clear evidence, in a way that comes across as bigoted even if BOSS isn't a very '''nice''' sentient person. And he writes off the entire [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Movellan]] race as no better than the Daleks once he realizes they're androids (albeit, in their case, both imperialistic and coldly logical ones). The only person in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot ''Robot'']] who treats poor unstable K1 with any real kindness is Sarah. While the Doc has rarely had much compunction about destroying [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters Of The Week,]] robots tend to get the least consideration of any of them. Really, it often comes down to how ''nice'' the robot in question is. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath "The Robots of Death,"]] he shows remarkably little consideration for poor D84, until he realizes that he has actually hurt D84's feelings (meaning [[DoAndroidsDream D84 has feelings to hurt),]] and from then on is much nicer to him. He acknowledges [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E4TheFaceOfEvil Xoanon]] as a full-blown [[MechanicalLifeforms Mechanical Lifeform]] and holds himself morally culpable for having inadvertantly driven him mad. K-9 [[TheNthDoctor (all of them)]] is always treated as a [[RobotBuddy buddy,]] but then again, the Doc doesn't seem to see any existential problem in creating ReplacementGoldfish K-9's. He arguably ends up showing ''too much'' sympathy to poor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E6TheKingsDemons Kamelion]] (Five ''is'' usually considered the ''nicest'' Doctor), who started out working for the Master; then again, it certainly isn't Kamelion's fault that he ultimately [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire ends up being such a huge liability]] to the TARDIS crew. And Eleven [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks encourages Bracewell,]] revealed as a Dalek-created android but clearly a good person, to go ahead and lead a full and good life. And of course, the TARDIS herself is sentient, though the Doc seems to have been slow to fully realize and accept the fact.
* ''Series/DontLookDeeper'': Aisha is viewed this way by her owners, believing she's a dangerous unauthorized experiment to shut down, nothing more, in spite of all evidence. Abel temporarily shows sympathy, but not enough to stop him participating in this.

* Both the [[Series/TheOuterLimits1963 1963 original]] and [[Series/TheOuterLimits1995 1995 revival]] versions of ''The Outer Limits'' adapted "I Robot" (based on the "Literature/AdamLink" story by Eando Binder). Each episode has the robot put on trial. Part of the case was whether he was a sapient being deserving of rights under the US constitution or Just a Machine. [[spoiler:He wins the case, but dies in a HeroicSacrifice at [[CruelTwistEnding the end of the episode]].]] For bonus points, [[spoiler:in the remake he sacrificed himself saving the prosecuting attorney who had argued against his sapience. In the original, he's destroyed while saving a little girl he'd accidentally injured earlier in the episode.]]

* ''Manhua/MyBelovedMother'' is set in a future where robots were integrated into human society, but are treated with disdain by the human citizens. The welfare department notably had robot caretakers issued to orphans, including the protagonist Sinbell, to be RaisedByRobots, only for these orphans to be looked down by their peers for having "machines as parents" - a younger classmate from Sinbell's school was actually ''forced to drop out'' from the constant bullying due to having a robot mother!

** While human-made "smart" [=AIs=] are basically trans-human minds capable of both intellectual and emotional development (due to the fact that they're made by literally scanning human brains), they're regarded primarily as tools, and don't seem to have any real "rights". However, the general populace does recognize them as being sentient, and the humans who actually work with them often treat them more as fellow co-workers and friends rather than mere devices, with the close bond between the Master Chief and his AI companion Cortana being one of the key emotional cornerstone of the series; a parallel could perhaps be made to real life relationships between some slaves and their masters, with the former having no real rights, but with the latter still ultimately regarding him/her as worthy of friendship and respect. The [=AIs=] themselves generally take pride in serving their masters, with even the one AI secret society we know of only wanting to ''help'' humanity as a whole. However, when an AI goes rampant (which is the terminal phase of its natural life cycle due to it mentally developing so much that it inevitably "thinks" itself to death), it will often lash out against the limited terms and rights of its existence. Naturally, the UNSC's main method of preventing rampancy is to simply terminate the [=AIs=] before they develop "too much". As mentioned in the "Literature" section, ''Literature/HaloSaintsTestimony'' explores this tension between ''what'' [=AIs=] are versus ''how'' they're treated.
** Meanwhile, human-made "dumb" [=AIs=] are non-sentient programs made for relatively basic tasks, such the on-the-move mission briefing provided by [[VideoGame/HaloReach Auntie Dot]], with most barely having any personality whatsoever. While humans occasionally form some attachment to their assigned "dumb" AI, such [=AIs=] are treated even worse than "smart" [=AIs=], since they're mass-produced ''literal tools''. That said, one exception to this is the strong relationship between "Vergil" (a subroutine of the New Mombasa Superintendent AI) and Sadie Endesha.

* In ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' the protagonists considers Machines Lifeform just machine that replicate human behavior without understanding it. Double as FantasticRacism since the protagonists themselves are androids but being human made instead of alien made like the machines they view themselves as superior.

*** When the mayor learns of the update (thought not the motivation behind it), [[spoiler:she gets another KickTheDog moment by choosing to do nothing about it to prevent human obsolescence.]]

** later in Act 6, This applies to Dirk's autoresponder. Jake thinks at first that the autoresponder is just some elaborate pranking machine made by Dirk to screw with him. It doesn't help that the autoresponder has a marked tendency to hit on Jake constantly, nor that he's also just plain [[TheGadfly kind of a dick]]. [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006091 The AR does manage to convince him otherwise]], though, and Jake is suitable guilty about it all.

* Marendar from the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' online serials is a being specifically created to kill the denizens of the Matoran Universe in case they don't shut down by themselves after Mata Nui (a HumongousMecha housing said universe) fulfills his mission. Their creators, the Great Beings, thought that the MU inhabitants would still be the same non-sentient machines the had designed them as, but instead, they developed an entire culture, making Marendar an unintentional mass-murderer. This issue wasn't touched upon much because the series was LeftHanging.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Second Chance" this is both played straight and averted by the Galactic Commonwealth. On the one hand, mining robots only focus on their job and combat droids are a pityless, yet efficient replacement for soldiers of flesh and bone which can be replaced. On the other though, as technology improves beyond expected limits, A.I begins to formulate more and more complex thoughts, while humanity itself slowly "improve themselves" to become almost machines.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Jenny]] encounters a carnival filled with {{Single Task Robot}}s. She's offended at "her kind" being used as servants, but Tuck (rather insensitively) insists they're just machines. In a subversion, [[JerkassHasAPoint Tuck is entirely right]]: these robots are completely incapable of doing anything but running amusement park rides, and wreak havoc trying to be "free". The show itself seems to take a sliding scale view of sentience. Robots like the ones in the carnival ''are'' 'just machines' because they lack independence or self-awareness, whereas other robots like Jenny are fully sapient and universally recognized as such.
* There's at least one or two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' all about Cyborg realizing he's "more than just a robot". In one of these episode, the robotic villain Atlas inverts the trope; after trashing Cyborg and kidnapping the other Titans, he mocks him by saying "I am all robot, and you are only human." Later, however, when Cyborg comes back and defeats him in a rematch, Atlas yields, saying he's the better robot. Cyborg's response?

* Averted in the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' metaseries. While some ill-informed fleshlings are so foolish as to refer to Cybertronian life as being "just machines", it is an established fact, proven several times over that Transformers have souls (they call them Sparks, and they have a special container in their chest to hold it), an extant God (Primus, whose sleeping body ''is'' the Transformer homeworld of Cybertron), and an afterlife (the Well of All Sparks, where All are One. It is proven, but nonetheless mysterious). Interestingly none of the above is established for the aforementioned fleshlings -- meaning that, given the evidence, it is entirely possible that the machines are more "human" than the humans, by the definitions humans use. The is also no denying that Cybertronians show a depth and range of emotion remarably similar to humans, and are capable of amazing displays of compassion... And just as capable of savage and relentless hatred.

* Played for laughs in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', where a spoof of "I Robot" (based on the "Literature/AdamLink" story by Eando Binder) had Rosie from ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' being accused of murdering George. At Rosie's trial she claims to be innocent and the judge remarks "Well, maybe, but just to be safe...", Rosie is then promptly smashed.
* Zig-zagged in ''WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'', with the Cybernetic Humanoid Assault System, or [[FunWithAcronyms C.H.A.S.]]. Most of the troopers dismiss him as a troublesome ([[JobStealingRobot if highly competent]]) piece of equipment, but Higgens insists that C.H.A.S. should be made a member of the team. Towards the end of the episode, C.H.A.S. leads the squad out of a minefield ambush, and performs a HeroicSacrifice for Higgens. When Higgens tries to get C.H.A.S. to save himself, C.H.A.S. insists on this trope.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', most of Gyro's inventions [[AIIsACrapshoot turn evil]]. What Gyro himself has failed to notice (but Louie has) is that nearly all of them seen on-screen (though not [[spoiler:B.O.Y.D., who is normally a pacifist but was forced into evil by Dr. Akita]]) do so after someone (often Gyro himself) talks about them being unfeeling machines.