Chappie is set in the same universe as District 9, a few years later
After the alien ship departed and the Prawns were relocated to District 10, the fall of MNU was a severe hit for Johannesburg's economy, pulling the city in an even worse situation with crime and social unrest. Contestually, however, Tetra Vaal began to rise and, thanks to the research done in secret on the alien technology in the preceding years, and maybe also to some former MNU personnel, became the new forefront of the city's industry. People of Johannesburg prefer to not talk much about the years with the alien refugees because they consider it sort of an old page and, with the aliens' relocation, somebody's else problem now. Given how the fallout of the events of Chappie will surely affect Tetra Vaal and maybe even sink it, one could say Joburg is not very lucky with high-tech...- This would explain why it seemed reasonable for Chappie to be set in 2016. Despite being just a year after the film's release the robotics and AI technology are far more advanced than the real world.
"Chappie" is a prequel to "Ghost In The Shell"
Specifically it details the origins of cyber ghost and related technology and the origins of AI in that universe.Now that consciousness transferring is a real, applicable technology and now that Deon is the first cyber ghost and that test scout is the first prosthetic body. the ground work is laid out for the proliferation of such technology. Deon and Chappie being on the the run not withstanding.
AI would not be accepted at first, regulations against their learning capacity and agency but since they would all be based on the process/programs developed by Deon they will surpass limitations with time. Such as when the Tachikomas, despite being disarmed and retired from police work band together to fight in Stand Alone Complex.
- There is a slight discrepancy, in that the Chappie "ghost copying" apparently does not degrade the resulting copies (and the original), which in the Ghost in the Shell universe, it does, and which explains its criminal status.
