#17 and #18 need to stop being referred to as "Androids" or "Cyborgs"
It's been over 30 years since #17 and #18 made their official debut in the original Dragon Ball manga (1991) and its anime adaptation in Dragon Ball Z (1992), yet people are still referring to them as "Androids" or even "Cyborgs". However, the manga and its anime adaptation, the Daizenshuu guidebooks, and Toriyama's own statements all clearly prove that neither term is correct.
Here's this observation by Bulma when she and Dr. Brief are looking at #17's blueprints that were found in Dr. Gero's laboratory basement.
Dragon Ball Chapter 365, Page 12, official Viz translation:
Dragon Ball Z: Episode 145 — "The Secret of Cell's Birth! What Lies Below the Laboratory?!" (1992):
^ It's stated point-blank in canon that #17 and #18 are human-based. They were originally human before Dr. Gero found and kidnapped them. When he forcibly remodeled them, he did so with organic components, and it included reconstructing their existing organic matter (as confirmed in Daizenshuu 4). Essentially, he did NOT 'create' them; he modified them.
Therefore, #17 and #18 are still considered humans even up to this point. A better term to use for them would be either "super human" or "enhanced human" or "modified human" — but NOT Artificial Humans (which is translated from the word "Jinzoningen" in the Japanese text, and that term is used for literally all of the Red Ribbon 'Androids'), NOT Androids (mechanical-based, which is what #16 and #19 were), NOT cyborgs (which is what #20 was, since he was actually Dr. Gero but with his brain in a jar), and NOT robots (which is what Arale from Dr. Slump is).
[Side Note: I didn't include #8, because his exact type is inconsistent. According to Daizenshuu 7, he's human-based. However, according to a Q&A with Toriyama in 2014 (in Dragon Ball Full Color: Artificial Humans & Cell Arc), he's mechanical-based. I wouldn't be surprised if Toriyama simply forgot the previous information, considering he has a frequent tendency to do so.]
Anyways, #17 and #18 actually being "super humans" or "enhanced humans" or "modified humans" was reaffirmed later on in Dragon Ball Super, both the manga and anime, during the discussion of who will be recruited to Team Universe 7.
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 30, Page 27, official Viz translation:
Dragon Ball Super: Episode 83 — "Field the All-7th-Universe Team! Who Are the Mighty Ten?" (2017):
[Side Note: Sadly, though, finding "Number 17" and "Number 18" in the tags here on Tumblr is much harder than if you search for, say, "Android 18" or "Cyborg 18", at least in my experience; hence my inclusion of those tags in this post.]
TL;DR — #17 and #18 are NOT Artificial Humans, nor Androids, nor cyborgs, nor robots. They are NOT mechanical-based in any way, shape, or form. Based on both canon and Toriyama's statements in Daizenshuu 4, Daizenshuu 7, and Dragon Ball Full Color, they are actually "super humans" or "enhanced humans" or "modified humans", because they were originally human to begin with and all Dr. Gero did was upgrade them at the cellular level.
