I think one thing we have to accept right away is that a lot of these terms aren't as solidly defined as we think they are. Even taking dictionary definitions into account, there are two or three opposing opinions when it comes to what counts as a cyborg.
Is "artificial human" the japanese term for android/robot/cyborg because it's the closest term they had in their language?
As a matter of fact, the term
jinzoningen isn't generally applied to cyborgs at all. I suppose it is vaguer than "android", as someone pointed out with the Macross example, but a cyborg is more correctly referred to as a
kaizoningen (i.e. "modified human", or something along those lines). Even Japanese fans have pointed out that #18 isn't really what they would call an artificial human. "Android" is actually the most normal way of translating
jinzoningen, so even though it doesn't accurately describe all of Dr. Gero's creations, that little oddity is also present in Japanese. Because of that, I like the translation because it's accurately inaccurate.
While we're on that subject, is "instantaneous movement" their term for teleportation?
Basically, yes.
Shunkan ido literally means instantaneous movement, but it's the generic Japanese term for teleportation, so just calling it teleportation in English makes the most sense. Same as
jinzoningen becoming android, really.
