I've been wondering about how the institute manages to produce synths with the very limited amount of resources left in the commonwealth but primarily why they even bother. Granted I haven't completed the game yet so I don't know everything there is to know about the institute.
To me it seems that they need synths to perform cheap and dangerous labour. Why do they use these very technologically advanced – and I'd imagine hard to produce – robots for these tasks when they have a great source of cheap labour living above them? Generation 3 synths are indistinguishable from humans so they need food and living quarters just like humans. You could argue that humans will never be as loyal to the institute as the synths are, but the existence of the railroad faction shows that (gen 3) synths' brainwashing doesn't always produce the most reliable results either.
In summary: why does the institute bother with synths when there are humans to perform cheap labor instead?
Best Answer
This might contain spoilers, be aware:
I do not think Gen 3 Synths need food and sleep. While they look and behave like humans, those are still machines. They probably CAN eat, but they don't have to.
Human resources are limited and have to be trained. Most of the raiders where just reckless and brutal, not capable of solving complex problems. Synths can do that.
While you say humans aren't as loyal as synths, synths still are more loyal and can be developed further. You can tune a machine until its perfect, which was the goal of the institute.