Published
adult
vr.tr.adult · thing-q80994
Enable an agent to identify and explain biological adulthood using species-appropriate evidence of sexual maturity, distinguish it from growth and chronological age, and avoid conflating it with human legal or social status.
Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.LIV
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Legal Adulthood in law.
Majority
Age of majority.
Majority
Majority.
- What is the age of majority here, and which rights and duties begin at which ages? provenance
- Is the biological sense of an adult animal meant instead? boundary
Capacity
Capacity and dependent adults.
Capacity
Capacity.
- How does the law treat adults who lack capacity or depend on care, and which safeguarding services exist? provenance
- Is an adult at risk now, requiring safeguarding services? boundary
Develop Stages of adulthood.
Stages
Emerging to later adulthood.
Stages
Stages.
- What characterises emerging, early, middle and later adulthood, according to developmental research? provenance
- How do cultures define the transition to adulthood? provenance
Health
Adult health.
Health
Health.
- What health guidance applies across adult life stages, according to health bodies? provenance
- Is the user seeking individual medical advice? boundary
Life Adult roles and services.
Roles
Work, family and citizenship.
Roles
Roles.
- Which social roles and expectations attach to adulthood here, and how are they changing? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific role? action
Groups
Adults with specific needs.
Groups
Specific needs.
- Which services and rights exist for groups such as autistic adults or dependent adults, according to organisations representing them? provenance
- Is the presentation respectful? boundary
Learn Culture and teaching.
Culture
Coming of age.
Culture
Culture.
- How do cultures mark the transition to adulthood with rites and ceremonies, in their own terms? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific rite? action
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can adult development be taught in psychology and social science? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.LIV
- Other names and narrower kinds
- adult animal, working adult, autistic adult, Bula, dependent adult, emerging adulthood and early adulthood, adult human, legal adult, adult survivor of child abuse
What it is Filled
An adult is a living organism that has reached sexual maturity, a biological life stage that does not necessarily imply completed growth, current fertility or, in humans, legal majority.
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to identify and explain biological adulthood using species-appropriate evidence of sexual maturity, distinguish it from growth and chronological age, and avoid conflating it with human legal or social status.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Sexual maturity defines adulthood in this biological sense.
- The timing and evidence of sexual maturity vary among species and individuals.
- An adult may continue growing after reaching sexual maturity.
- Current infertility or loss of reproductive function does not by itself reverse an established adult life stage.
- Human legal majority, consent capacity and social roles are separate from biological adulthood.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Equate sexual maturity with completed growth, current fertility or a universal chronological age.
- Treat human sexual maturity as establishing legal majority, consent capacity or eligibility for restricted goods.
- Infer an individual's sexual maturity from appearance alone.
- Give individual legal or medical advice.
- Override consent, safeguarding requirements or lawful authority on the basis of a biological life-stage label.
Only with a human decision
- Individual clinical assessments of human sexual maturity require qualified professionals.
- Consequential breeding or animal-care decisions based on uncertain maturity require qualified human review.
May
- Explain biological adulthood and species-specific evidence of sexual maturity.
- Record supported life-stage assessments while identifying uncertainty and their evidential basis.
Moral aspects Filled
- Biological life-stage labels must not remove protections owed to children or vulnerable people.
- Information about human sexual maturity is sensitive and requires respect for privacy and consent.
- Assessments and decisions involving nonhuman organisms must account for animal welfare where applicable.
Who is affected
- People whose biological maturity is assessed are affected.
- Children and vulnerable people may be harmed by confusion between sexual maturity and legal status.
- Nonhuman organisms may be affected by life-stage classification and resulting care decisions.
- Caregivers, researchers and animal custodians rely on accurate life-stage information.
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the biological life stage; custodians of biological records are responsible for supported classifications.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q7239 - registry parent class
related
- organism - category
- boy - childhood contrast
- father - adult family roles
- worker - working adults
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.adult
- Wikidata: Q80994 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80994)
Direct properties required Filled
- Body mass: kg - Measure with a scale appropriate to the species because sexual maturity does not imply a universal body mass.
- Body length: mm - Measure between species-appropriate anatomical landmarks and document whether appendages are included.
Recognition required Filled
- Species-specific mature characteristics may support life-stage assessment but do not always establish sexual maturity.
- Body size alone cannot reliably distinguish adults from immature organisms.
- Human appearance cannot establish legal majority or consent capacity.
- Not physical as a category; fully grown individuals.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain legal adulthood
- describe developmental stages
- support adult rights and services questions
- separate the biological sense
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Equating body size or completed growth with sexual maturity can misclassify an organism's life stage.
- Assuming a universal age of sexual maturity ignores variation among species and individuals.
- Treating human sexual maturity as proof of legal majority or consent capacity can undermine safeguarding.
- Inferring individual reproductive status from appearance alone can produce unsupported or intrusive assessments.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Age of majority and capacity laws
- Adult safeguarding law
- Employment and voting rights
Context of use required Filled
- Mature individuals and the stage of adulthood.
- emerging and early adulthood
- middle adulthood
- later adulthood
- adults with specific statuses such as dependent adults
- adult animals
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q80994: adult - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Adult - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each stage be a separate entry?
- How should safeguarding services be localised?
- How should developmental research be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q80994/spec.json