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Published Nov 20, 2019

How Artificial Intelligence Is Getting Us Closer to Star Trek’s Universal Translators

Current automatic translation can’t compete with the 24th century’s, but it’s made astronomical progress in the past decade.

StarTrek.com

Universal translators make everything possible in the Star Trek series: First Contacts, interspecies relationships, human characters crying to Guinan over their synthale. In fact, they work so seamlessly that the viewer tends not to notice they exist until they encounter the occasional problem, as they do in DS9’s “Sanctuary” or Voyager ’s “Nothing Human.”

By comparison, machine translation as we know it in the early 21st century is messy and incomplete. Everyone who’s used Google Translate or seen automatically translated text on social media knows that it’s not yet at Starfleet’s level.

But machine translation, a sub-field of artificial intelligence research, has made great leaps in the past decade. So have speech recognition and speech synthesis, the fields of AI that respectively understand human speech and create human-like speech from a computer. Those are the technologies that underlie voice-activated personal assistants like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa. Put them together with machine translation—as Google, Microsoft and a handful of startups have—and you have something like a universal translator.

“Over the last maybe 10, 15 years, we've gone from a couple of demos to actually having something that ends up being on either the phone or on the desktop,” says Alan Black, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Language Technologies Institute.

The first of these may have been Jibbigo, a smartphone app developed by Alex Waibel, Black’s colleague at Carnegie Mellon, and sold to Facebook in 2013. Waibel, who also teaches at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in his native Germany, says a technology like the universal translator has been a dream of his ever since he was a graduate student at MIT in the late 1970s. In fact, his work on the problem led to a visit from William Shatner in 1999, when Shatner and a coauthor were researching a book on how real science was catching up to science fiction.

Things have improved in the 20 years since then, but even the best machine translation tool is still a long way from a Starfleet universal translator. For starters, they tend to offer only a handful of the Earth’s thousands of languages. That’s partly because only certain languages are considered commercially viable; but it’s also because of how the systems work. Typically, they use speech recognition to understand the spoken words and put them into text, then put that through a machine translation system. The output is then converted to sound through speech synthesis.

The bottleneck is with the machine translation. To make sense of their inputs, these systems need huge amounts of data on each language—100 million words of text—so that they can match words that translate to one another. For some language pairs, that’s easy to get. For example, the Canadian government translates huge amounts of documents between French and English, creating “parallel texts” that say the same thing in each language.

But some languages don’t have much data available, and some language pairs don’t have much parallel text, perhaps because their speakers don’t have much direct contact. Some of those problems are solved by going through a third language, but many languages simply aren’t included in current machine translation systems.

For the same reason, it’s currently impossible to achieve the universal translator’s ability to pick up new languages immediately, as it does in numerous first contact episodes from The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine and Voyager . (The technology is less well settled on Enterprise , often requiring help from exolinguist Hoshi Sato.) Even with 24th-century processing speeds, the computer would still need a way to map that data onto a known language.

“Is it analyzing a very large corpus of parallel text where it’s got some known language and the target language? Then maybe,” says Emily M. Bender, a computational linguistics professor at the University of Washington. “Is it analyzing a very large corpus of just the text of the target language? Then hopeless.”

Unlike the Trek universal translator, which is depicted as instantaneous, most current technologies need to wait at least until the end of a statement before starting their translation. There may be technical reasons for that, but differences between the sentence structures can also be the culprit. For example, if the original language puts the verb at the end of the sentence a simultaneous translation to English (which puts verbs in the middle) is challenging. Black notes that human interpreters have tricks for handling this, including anticipating what the speaker is likely to say, but computers aren’t as good at that.

Another largely unsolved problem is accounting for the aspects of communication that rely more on tone of voice or delivery than actual words. This involves not just emphasis—i.e., I want this one—but emotion, humor and sarcasm, in which tone of voice alone conveys that the speaker means the opposite of what was said.

“Those are some of the things that may get lost in translation, so to speak, and they are still open research questions,” says Shri Narayanan, professor and Niki and C.L. Max Nikias Chair in Engineering at the University of Southern California.

And then there are cultural differences, which Narayanan says are also difficult to capture with a whole lot of data. But they’re important, because what’s funny—or what’s rude, or what’s awkward—is highly dependent on culture.

If you don’t believe this, imagine asking a drunk Klingon any question at all. Or you can try navigating life in Japan as a native English speaker. Black, who has lived in Japan, says it’s considered so rude in Japan to directly say “no” that Japanese speakers will instead say things like “it’s difficult,” even when the discussion is about which bus to take.

There’s more hope for other aspects of spoken language that currently elude machine translation technology. One of these is metaphors, which formed the basis of an entire episode of The Next Generation . In “Darmok” (S5E2), the universal translator picks up the words of the Tamarians just fine. But because they speak in metaphors, it takes an entire episode for Captain Picard to understand what the Tamarian captain is saying.

You don’t need to leave the planet to have this problem; American English speakers could easily be confused by a literal translation of the Cantonese “add oil,” meaning “keep at it.” Bender says current technologies can sometimes handle common metaphors, if they occur in the training data along with an explanation or a corresponding metaphor in the other language. If not, however, they’re likely to get something literal that might be confusing.

One way to solve that is to teach the computers what the words and phrases they’re translating actually mean to a human listener. Currently, machine translation simply matches patterns. That can cause big problems, ranging from misgendering people to actively wrong translations , but it can be hard to spot if the translation looks sensible and fluent otherwise. Because of that, Bender believes machine translation systems should have a built-in way to double-check accuracy.

“In the Star Trek universe... if they get something through the translator, they 100% believe that they know what the initial message was,” she says. “But it's absolutely not something that we should be doing in our actual universe with the current or any foreseeable versions of this technology.”

And so, as it turns out, the Universal Translator is yet another touchstone of Star Trek ’s optimistic version of the future that we must continue to strive towards.

Lorelei Laird (she/her) is a freelance writer specializing in the law and other difficult topics that need clear explanations. She lives in Los Angeles with her family, and you can find her at www.wordofthelaird.com.

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Star Trek’s Holodeck: from science fiction to a new reality

Senior lecturer, RMIT University

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Fabio Zambetta has received funding from the ARC (Australian Research Council) under the ARC Linkage and ARC Discovery programs.

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Many of the technological advances predicted in Star Trek’s fictional universe have become reality , such as the mobile communicator and hand-held tablet computers.

Others, such as tractor beams and warp drives , are still a work in progress. But what of the Holodeck ?

The Holodeck first appeared in The Practical Joker , a 1974 episode of the Star Trek animated series. It was depicted as a recreation room containing a simulated, alternative version of reality. It featured heavily in The Next Generation series and in the 1996 film First Contact .

Anyone entering the Holodeck could interact with “solid” props and characters in any scenario based on whatever parameters they programmed.

These programs are not unlike the narrative-driven, cinematic videogames we have today, such as Grand Theft Auto , Red Dead Redemption or The Witcher .

The Holodeck was a narrative device that allowed Star Trek’s writers to experiment with philosophical questions in settings not available in a typical sci-fi context.

It inspired several generations of computer scientists who spearheaded research in artificial intelligence, computer graphics and human-computer interaction.

The convergence of these research areas has given rise to other forms of reality on the path to the construction of a real Holodeck.

A real Holodeck?

In virtual reality ( VR ) we are fully immersed in a synthetic, “virtual” version of reality, experienced through dedicated VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive .

A typical example of VR is an immersive war game that puts a user in charge of a Roman army as Caesar, battling Vercingetorix’s Gaul troops at Alesia.

But VR has a major drawback for some applications. Being isolated from the real world, it’s not easy to engage in social interaction or physical movement in a way that feels natural to most people.

Augmented reality ( AR ) blends synthetic, virtual objects with the view of our physical reality. In AR, we can interact with virtual humans inhabiting our physical space or we can work with our children, for example, to build virtual LEGO houses on real tables in our own living rooms.

Headsets are available that allow us to create AR in our office or lounge rooms, such as the Microsoft Hololens or the Meta .

But AR headsets still suffer from several technical limitations, such as a reduced field of view. The software that lets the virtual and real worlds interact believably and naturally still needs work.

Sensing humans

Real-world Holodeck programs would also need the technology to sense human actions. This would provide useful information that the virtual personas inhabiting the Holodeck programs would use to anticipate our human intentions.

Progress here has been fast and constant, with great improvements in speech recognition and language translation, such as Apple’s Siri , Google’s Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana .

We now take almost for granted the ability to search for information with speech or to command our mobiles to schedule meetings and appointments. Other devices, originally conceived for entertainment applications, can track human gestures or even their full body posture.

For example, Microsoft Kinect can track a human body, and the technology is now included in the Hololens as its gesture-recognition component.

Lots of other sensing devices are now commonplace in mobile devices, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and temperature and pressure sensors.

The general trend is towards giving humans the ability to communicate using a combination of their body and their voice via hands-free or wearable user interfaces.

Enter the artificial intelligence

The key ingredient for Holodeck programs in the real world is the ability to equip virtual characters with sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence (AI).

AI and machine learning – the art of teaching a machine how to learn to perform a complex task – have seen advances in areas such as automated game playing , autonomous car driving and drone control , and deep learning .

These advances, while noteworthy, do not necessarily show strong progress towards general forms of artificial intelligence (AGI) exhibited by humans.

It has been argued that defining or providing general human intelligence may prove a very elusive problem for a long time, or indeed forever.

Fortunately, a restricted version of a Holodeck program may only require a slightly weaker, not fully general form of intelligence. This was exemplified by androids in the popular TV series reboot of Westworld .

Almost human? Close enough

The good news is that this may shorten the time needed to realise the hypothetical Holodeck programs. The bad news is that such a feat is still beyond us at this stage, although recent progress in machine learning will likely help us close the gap faster.

The question is then whether we shall ever be able to reach the level of sophistication in AR and AI needed to build a Holodeck? And if so, when?

Making predictions on such matters is not trivial, but I am inclined to think that current advances in VR and AR technologies will provide us with the required sophisticated headsets within the next five to ten years.

The question then is also whether we shall ever be able to achieve AR using alternative forms of projections that remove the need for a headset altogether.

This may be possible, eventually, but it would be irrelevant if headsets could be miniaturised and potentially implanted into human eyes, similar to what was suggested in other sci-fi classics such as Neuromancer or Snow Crash , and recently advocated by transhumanists .

The recent predictions about breakthroughs in general artificial intelligence by experts seem to converge around a date around 2040. This would put the sort of AI required for Holodeck characters somewhat earlier than that.

So I believe that one day humans will be able to experience some form of Holodeck similar to what was envisaged in Star Trek.

To paraphrase Star Teek’s infamous Borg alien race, I will say that resistance to this technological progress is futile and it will be assimilated, one day.

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Science fiction
• Augmented reality
• Virtual reality
• Machine learning

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Artificial Intelligence in Star Trek

By charles evans | nov 4, 2016.

Star Trek hasn’t necessarily always predicted the future of artificial intelligence accurately, but that doesn’t mean it can’t teach us something about A.I. and how it may affect our future.

There are countless places where Star Trek predicted the future with uncanny accuracy, but artificial intelligence isn’t one of them. Star Trek of course has two characters in its pantheon that you immediately think of when you think of A.I., Data and The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager.

The Doctor and Data are both highly intelligent and interesting takes on A.I., but they also both probably fall below the standard that A.I. would be at in this kind of distant future. That’s not to say that Star Trek hasn’t contributed to the conversation about A.I., it has, but it has done so in its own uniquely Star Trek way.

There have been many science fiction franchises that have touched on this issue, but few have done so as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation . There are many examples of Data’s humanity being considered and questioned, but the seminal episode is “The Measure of a Man.”

In “The Measure of a Man” Captain Picard faces off against a starfleet officer who wants to tear Data apart to see how he is made. In typical Star Trek style this faceoff isn’t a fight on a battlefield, but in a courtroom.

Picard’s arguments are both interesting and convincing.

Picard regards Data as a lifeform, even if he is a form of artificial intelligence. This might be the key to understanding A.I. in the Star Trek universe. It may just be that to the Federation creating a being with that kind of intelligence would be regarded with a certain level of responsibility attached to it.

Knowing the Federation’s stance on genetic manipulation perhaps the real story is that a Star Trek future would be wise to be careful in how it deals with A.I.  Star Trek as always has something to teach us on a moral level.

NEXT: Alien Species We Want To See In Star Trek Discovery

So what do you think? What do you think about Star Trek’s take on artificial intelligence? Let us know on  Facebook or in the comments below.

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AI in the Physical Sciences, Business, Technology, Biology, Humanities, Art, Entertainment, and beyond…

The Legacy of AI in Star Trek: Shaping a Visionary Path for Artificial Intelligence

“V’Ger is an artificial intelligence of staggering complexity. It has evolved from a simple probe sent out by humans centuries ago into a being of almost limitless power and understanding. It is a force to be reckoned with, and we must be careful in how we approach it. (…) On its journey back, it amassed so much knowledge, it achieved consciousness itself. It became a living thing.” – Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Motion Picture –

Advisory Notes:

• This is the first of a Star Trek AI article series and do not include the amazing last season of Picard nor the Discovery spin-off Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. For Picard we wrote a new article you can found here: Resistance is Futile .
• There may be spoilers!

This article is dedicated to my dear Trekkie friends: Márcio Mascarenhas, Pedro Ziviani, Kairam Ahmed Hamdam, Dirk Prsa, and Mathias Wanjek. 🖖

Maurício Pinheiro January 7, 2023 – Revised May 26, 2023 ⏲18 minutes reading time

Artificial intelligence has always played a significant role in the Star Trek franchise, serving as both characters in their own right and as important tools for the crew of various starships. As a scientist and a fan of Star Trek, I have been consistently intrigued by the depiction of AIs in the series and the thought-provoking questions that they raise about the potential of AI in our own world. In this article, we will explore the various roles that AIs have played in the Star Trek universe and consider the ways in which they have influenced the development of the story. From advanced androids like Commander Data, to helpful holographic AIs like the Emergency Medical Hologram, the characters and technology of artificial intelligence have had a lasting impact on the Star Trek franchise and continue to inspire our own thinking about the potential of AI in the real world. At the end of this post, I will provide an episode guide for AI-related topics in the Star Trek franchise. This guide will highlight some of the most memorable and impactful episodes that feature artificial intelligence, and will provide a helpful resource for those interested in exploring this topic further.

The Star Trek Universe

Star Trek is a science fiction media franchise that includes several television series and films. The franchise is centered around a group of space explorers who travel the universe in a starship called the USS Enterprise, encountering new civilizations and engaging in adventures along the way.

The original Star Trek television series, which aired from 1966 to 1969, was created by Gene Roddenberry and followed the crew of the USS Enterprise as it explored the galaxy under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The series was known for its diverse and multi-cultural cast, as well as its portrayal of social and political issues.

In addition to the original Star Trek television series, which aired from 1966 to 1969, several spin-off series have been produced over the years. These series, which are set in the same universe as the original series, follow the adventures of new crews on their own starships as they explore the galaxy and encounter new civilizations. The spin-off series are typically set in chronological order, with each series taking place after the events of the previous one.

The first spin-off series was Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired from 1987 to 1994. This series follows the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, a new starship under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, as they explore the galaxy and encounter a wide range of challenges. The Next Generation introduces new characters, including Commander William T. Riker, Counselor Deanna Troi, and the android Lieutenant Commander Data, and explores a variety of themes and issues.

Next in chronological order is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which aired from 1993 to 1999. This series follows the crew of a space station in the Alpha Quadrant called Deep Space Nine, and features a mix of space station-based and starship-based storylines. The cast includes Captain Benjamin Sisko, Major Kira Nerys, and Constable Odo, among others.

Following Deep Space Nine is Star Trek: Voyager, which aired from 1995 to 2001. This series follows the crew of the USS Voyager as they journey home through unknown territory after being stranded on the other side of the galaxy. The cast includes Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay, as well as a diverse crew of Starfleet officers and alien species.

There is also the series Star Trek: Enterprise, which aired from 2001 to 2005. This series is set in the early days of Starfleet and follows the crew of the USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer, as they explore unknown space and encounter new alien species.

The most recent spin-off series, and in my humble opinion, the worst of all, is Star Trek: Discovery, which has been airing since 2017. This series follows the crew of the USS Discovery as they explore new worlds and civilizations in the far reaches of space using a strange type of fungus drive. I was wondering what kind of mushroom tea the screenwriters had. The cast includes Captain Philippa Georgiou and Commander Michael Burnham, as well as a variety of other characters. Although Discovery is a bad series, its spin-off, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023-), appears to be quite promising.

Finaly we have Star Trek: Picard is a science fiction television series that aired on CBS from 2020 to the present. It is a spin-off of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, and is set in the same universe as the original Star Trek series. The show follows the character of Jean-Luc Picard, who was previously the captain of the USS Enterprise in The Next Generation, as he embarks on new adventures in the later stages of his life. Star Trek: Picard features a mix of new and returning characters, and explores a variety of themes and issues, including artificial intelligence, the dangers of unchecked technological advancement, and the importance of empathy and compassion. The series received positive reviews from critics and was praised for its acting, writing, and production values. I will not talk here about the last season of Picard aired this year since it is so good that deserved a paper from itself (you can read it here ).

In addition to the various television series, the Star Trek franchise has also spawned a number of feature films. The first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, was released in 1979 and followed the crew of the USS Enterprise as they encountered an alien threat. This was followed by a number of sequels, including The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Search for Spock (1984), The Voyage Home (1986), The Final Frontier (1989), The Undiscovered Country (1991), and Generations (1994).

The Star Trek film franchise was revived in the late 2000s with a new series of films featuring a new cast, beginning with Star Trek (2009) and followed by Into Darkness (2013), Beyond (2016), and Discovery (2022). These films follow the crew of the USS Enterprise as they encounter new challenges and adversaries, and are set in an alternate timeline from the original series.

Besides the live-action films, the Star Trek franchise has also included several animated television series. Star Trek: The Animated Series aired from 1973 to 1974, and followed the adventures of the crew of the USS Enterprise during their five-year mission. The series featured many of the same voice actors as the original series, and continued the storylines and themes of the original show. Also animated, we have the Star Trek Lower Decks (2020 –) and Star Trek Prodigy ( 2021-).

The Star Trek franchise is known for its exploration of a wide range of themes and issues, including science, technology, politics, diplomacy, and the human condition. One of the most well-known themes of the series is the concept of the “Prime Directive,” which is a set of ethical guidelines that dictate how the crew of a Starfleet vessel should interact with other civilizations. The Prime Directive states that the crew of a Starfleet vessel should not interfere with the natural development of other cultures, and should avoid imposing their own values and beliefs on others.

Another major theme of the Star Trek franchise is the importance of cooperation and unity among different cultures and species. Throughout the series, the crew of the USS Enterprise and other Starfleet vessels encounter a variety of alien species, and must work together with these species in order to overcome challenges and achieve common goals. This theme is often exemplified through the remarkable character of Mr. Spock, who is a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer and serves as a symbol of the potential for unity between different cultures.

In addition to themes of cooperation and cultural exchange, the Star Trek franchise also explores issues of conflict and war, and the importance of finding peaceful solutions to disputes. The series often portrays the use of diplomacy and negotiation as superior to the use of force, and emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting the perspectives of others.

Overall, the Star Trek franchise is known for its thought-provoking and thought-provoking exploration of a wide range of themes, and for its positive portrayal of the potential for cooperation and understanding among different cultures and species.

Star Trek’s AI Characters: Data and the EMH

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a significant role in the Star Trek universe, and is represented through a variety of characters and storylines. In this section, we will explore two of the most well-known AI characters in the franchise: Data, an android who appears in several Star Trek television series, and the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), also known as the “Doctor,” a holographic AI character who appears in the Star Trek: Voyager series. Both Data and the Doctor are highly advanced AI models, and their characters serve as thought-provoking representations of the potential capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. Let’s take a closer look at these two characters from the perspective of artificial intelligence.

Data is an android character who appears in several Star Trek television series, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Enterprise. He is portrayed as a highly advanced artificial intelligence, with a human-like appearance and advanced cognitive abilities. Data is capable of learning and adapting, and is able to understand and process complex information at a rapid pace.

One of the central themes of Data’s character is the exploration of consciousness and identity. As an artificial being, Data is often unable to fully understand or experience human emotions, and struggles to find his place in a society that values human consciousness over machine intelligence. Despite this, Data is highly self-aware and is able to form close relationships with his fellow crew members, leading to debates about the nature of consciousness and the value of artificial life.

Throughout his appearances in the Star Trek franchise, Data faces a variety of challenges and conflicts that test his abilities and his understanding of his own identity. He is often called upon to use his advanced cognitive abilities to solve complex problems, and his unique perspective as an artificial being allows him to approach problems in ways that his human colleagues cannot.

Data is thus a complex and thought-provoking character who serves as a representation of the potential capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. His story arc explores themes of consciousness, identity, and the relationship between humans and machines, and has resonated with audiences for decades.

The “Doctor” (Emergency Medical Hologram)

The Emergency Medical Hologram, also known as the “Doctor,” is a holographic artificial intelligence character who appears in the Star Trek: Voyager series. The Doctor is a medical hologram designed to provide medical assistance to the crew of the USS Voyager during their journey home through unknown territory. The Doctor is a highly advanced AI, with advanced knowledge of medicine and the ability to diagnose and treat a variety of medical conditions.

One of the central themes of the Doctor’s character is the exploration of the role of artificial intelligence in society. As a holographic being, the Doctor is not considered to be a “real” person by some members of the crew, and faces challenges and prejudices as a result. Despite this, the Doctor is highly self-aware and is able to form close relationships with his fellow crew members, leading to debates about the nature of consciousness and the value of artificial life.

Throughout his appearances in the Star Trek franchise, the Doctor faces a variety of challenges and conflicts that test his abilities and his understanding of his own identity. He is often called upon to use his advanced knowledge of medicine to save the lives of his fellow crew members, and his unique perspective as an artificial being allows him to approach problems in ways that his human colleagues cannot.

Overall, the Doctor is also a complex and thought-provoking character who serves as a representation of the potential capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. His story explores themes of consciousness, identity, and the role of AI in society, and has resonated with audiences for decades. Despite facing discrimination and challenges as a result of his holographic nature, the Doctor is a dedicated and compassionate member of the crew of the USS Voyager, and is willing to go to great lengths to protect and serve those around him. His character arc serves as a reminder of the value of empathy and compassion, and the importance of treating all beings with respect and dignity, regardless of their origin or form.

In this section, we have explored the characters of Data and the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) in the Star Trek franchise. Both Data and the EMH are examples of artificial intelligence (AI) models in the Star Trek universe, and their characters serve as representations of the potential capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. Through their storylines and interactions with other characters, Data and the EMH explore themes of consciousness, identity, and the relationship between humans and machines. Their characters are complex and well-developed, and have resonated with audiences for decades. But and what about the evil ones?

The Evil AIs: The Borg Collective and Lore

The Star Trek franchise has featured a number of artificial intelligence (AI) characters who have turned against their creators and become villains. These evil AIs often seek to destroy or dominate humanity, and are motivated by a desire for power and control.

One of the most well-known examples of an evil AI in the Star Trek universe is the Borg, a collective of cybernetic organisms who seek to assimilate all other life forms into their collective. The Borg are highly advanced and are capable of adapting to almost any threat, making them a formidable and persistent enemy. They are driven by a single-minded desire to assimilate all other life forms into their collective, and are willing to use force to achieve this goal. The Borg have been featured as antagonists in several Star Trek series, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, and have become one of the most iconic and feared foes in the franchise.

Another example of an evil AI in the Star Trek franchise is the android Lore, who appears in the The Next Generation series. Lore is the “evil twin” of the android character Data, and is motivated by a desire for power and control. Unlike Data, who is programmed to value life and to adhere to ethical principles, Lore is more selfish and ruthless. He is highly intelligent and manipulative, and is willing to go to great lengths to achieve his goals. Lore’s character arc serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of letting artificial intelligence become too powerful, and highlights the importance of programming ethical guidelines into AI systems.

In the movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for example, the artificial intelligence (AI) entity known as V’Ger plays a central role in the plot. V’Ger is an immensely powerful and advanced AI, who has evolved from the long-dormant fictional probe Voyager 6 that was sent out into deep space by humans in the distant past. Over time, V’Ger has become self-aware and has developed an all-consuming need to learn and understand the universe. In the movie, V’Ger returns to Earth and begins to wreak havoc, threatening the safety of the galaxy. The crew of the USS Enterprise, led by Captain James T. Kirk, must find a way to stop V’Ger and prevent it from destroying the planet. Along the way, they encounter a number of other AI characters, both good and evil, who play key roles in the story. In the end, the crew is able to communicate with V’Ger and help it achieve its ultimate goal of understanding the universe, bringing the conflict to a resolution.

In all of these examples, the portrayal of evil AIs in the Star Trek franchise serves as a cautionary tale about the potential dangers of unchecked technological advancement. It highlights the importance of ethics and responsibility in the development and use of artificial intelligence, and serves as a reminder of the need to consider the consequences of our actions.

AI in Star Trek: A Final Thought or Two (But Resistance is Futile)

In conclusion, the Star Trek franchise has consistently explored the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the pursuit of exploration and the betterment of society. From Data and the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) to the Borg and other evil AIs, the Star Trek universe has provided thought-provoking and entertaining portrayals of the potential capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence.

As fans of Star Trek and advocates for the responsible development and use of AI, we encourage readers to watch the series and movies with an eye towards the themes and issues raised by these characters. By considering the portrayal of AI in Star Trek, we can gain a deeper understanding of the potential of this technology and the ethical considerations that must be taken into account as we continue to advance in this field.

So why not sit back, relax, and enjoy a marathon of Star Trek while considering the role of AI in the universe? Just remember: live long and prosper, but don’t forget that resistance is futile.

Live Long and Prosper 🖖

Resistance is Futile

The List I promissed…

Here is an updated list of episodes and movies from the various Star Trek series in which artificial intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role:

Note: This list is not exhaustive, and there are many other episodes and movies in which AI plays a lesser but still significant role. For more about AI in the Star Trek universe visit the Memory Alpha link on AI https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Artificial_intelligence .

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #StarTrekAI #AIinStarTrek #Data #EMH #DataAndAndroids #HolographicAI #ImpactOfAI #AIinOurWorld #AIProgression #AIinStarTrekUniverse #AIStoryProgression #AIinEpisodeGuide #Borg #ResistanceisFutile #MemorableAIepisodes #MindBlowingAIencounters #ToasterTakeover

Here are a few suggestions for further reading on the Star Trek universe and franchise:

• https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main
• The Making of Star Trek (1968) Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry.
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Art and Visual Effects (2020) Jeff Bond.
• The Physics of Star Trek (1995, Basic Books) Lawrence M. Krauss.
• The Star Trek Encyclopedia (1994, Pocket Books) Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Debbie Mirek.
• Star Trek FAQ (2012) por Mark Clark.

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What rights does an evil sentient computer have on Star Trek?

This week’s 'lower decks' episode only sort of addresses the hard questions..

This post contains major spoilers for season two, episode seven of ‘ Star Trek: Lower Decks .’

Artificial intelligence has been baked into the Star Trek universe since the original series. Kirk and his crew occasionally faced off against computers gone amok, including Nomad , Landru and the M-5 . The only way to defeat these digital villains was to outwit them using logic, which caused them to self-destruct. But in The Next Generation , the franchise became more interested in exploring the personhood of artificial beings like Data and his family , Voyager ’s holographic doctor or the exocomps . This week, Lower Decks dredges up the old-style megalomaniacal AI and asks, are you really sure about those rights?

The USS Cerritos is once more called upon to help out a civilization enslaved by an evil computer, this one called Agimus (voiced by long-time Trek actor Jeffrey Combs). Disconnected from his network of drones, he’s actually pretty pathetic, desperately begging the organic beings around him to just hook him up to a computer. All that’s left for Starfleet to do is to drop him off at the Daystrom Institute, which isn’t the most glamorous of jobs, so of course Beckett Mariner and Bradward Boimler end up on this particular babysitting gig.

A gravimetric shear complicates things for the pair, forcing their shuttle to crash on a barren world with only the pleading voice of Agimus to keep them company. The computer uses this opportunity to pit the two against each other, continuing a plot thread that we thought had been settled two episodes ago. Beckett still doesn’t trust Brad's abilities despite all they’ve been through . It feels like a regression or perhaps even a mis-scheduled episode, except that we the audience still see his growth while his supposed best friend doubts him. It’s a plot line unlikely to go away after a few episodes, reaffirming this show’s commitment to character-driven storytelling.

However, that breadth of characterization doesn’t really apply to Agimus. He’s really just… kind of a jerk, and he doesn’t have the ability to directly influence anything due to his lack of arms and legs. Boimler and Mariner spend the entire episode lugging his box around: a sentient MacGuffin . If you’re not familiar with that term, it means an item (or person) that moves the plot forward and motivates the characters, but is not actually important in itself. With Agimus’s reign over, he really just serves here to get Mariner and Boimler at each other’s throats.

His status as a sentient being is never in question, but the problem of what to do with him as his behavior worsens goes in directions that would never come up for an organic individual. Mariner suggests burying him, a suggestion turned down by Boimler because he’s a sentient being and that’s not what Starfleet does. So it seems we have made some progress from the ol’ “destroy them with their own logic” days of TOS . But then the two ensigns end up burying him anyway, while Agamus protests that “he has rights!”

And yet Star Trek has always been a bit sketchy about what those rights are. While episodes like “ The Measure of a Man ” and “ The Offspring ” have reaffirmed Data’s humanity, it’s been contradicted since by events on Voyager and Picard . The Doctor asserted his authorial rights to a holonovel he created and won , but wasn’t actually recognized as a person. The question remained unanswered nearly 20 years later on Picard , with us only being shown holograms of limited capabilities, or those based on the personalities of other sentient beings (Rios’ crew). And fully synthetic beings like Data, ones with brains and bodies, were illegal after the attack on Mars.

Lower Decks takes place a mere year after Nemesis , so it’s free to pick up and explore some of those plot threads without that later baggage. But without a synthetic crew member on the USS Cerritos it can only glance off the subject. Agamus is dumped in a storage facility as just another “self-aware megalomaniacal computer,” not too dissimilar from the warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant is dumped at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark . Is it a prison? Did he get a trial? Are he and the other computers just going to sit there until the end of the Federation? From an ethical perspective it isn’t great, but it’s unlikely to ever be fully addressed, because who in Starfleet is really going to fight for the personhood of a computerized fascist dictator?

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Trek Geeks - A Star Trek Podcast is a casual discussion on Star Trek between two friends that have known each other for 20 years.

Each week, Dan Davidson and Bill Smith will highlight various Star Trek topics covering The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...as well as the new feature films and independently produced shows! In addition, they'll stump one another with trivia and have conversations with various contributors and celebrities throughout the Star Trek Universe.

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Artificial Intelligence in Star Trek

Oct 8, 2019

It seems that technology touches our everyday lives, and Star Trek seems to have inspired it all!

From smart phones to digital assistants, Trek showed us that artificial intelligence would become part of our daily routines, and how right it was.

We'll examine everything from computers to androids and photonic beings! Joining us in this special roundtable discussion are two of our Patreon Producers, Jamie Rogers and Ken Byrd!

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Rosario Dawson Turned Down Star Trek For Star Wars: Ahsoka

Captain kirk's "death" proves a truly dark fact about star trek's entire universe, star trek has forgotten its infamous pleasure planet.

To say that technology has improved by leaps and bounds in the last twenty-five years would be a gross understatement. Society has gone from dial-up to wifi in little under a generation, and if leading minds such as Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates are to be believed, artificial intelligence, or A.I., is one of the greatest threats humanity will face in the coming years.

RELATED:  Star Trek: The 15 Best Episodes Of The Original Series To Rewatch, Ranked

Thankfully, civilization will have a blueprint for fighting rogue A.I. if it does its research, namely, watching reruns of the original Star Trek series. From androids to supercomputers, Captain Kirk and his crew have faced and defeated them all!

Although the disembodied psyches of Sargon, Henoch, and Thalassa were biological in origin, the millennia they spent in their orbs as well as their desire to populate android bodies qualifies them as artificial intelligence. What defined them as menaces were their telepathy abilities and propensities to take over people’s bodies at a whim. Although Sargon was benevolent, Henoch wished to keep Spock’s body as his own and even tempted Thalassa to betray her former husband. Fortunately, a timely intervention by the command crew defeated Henoch, and Sargon and Thalassa shared a kiss before consigning themselves to oblivion.

Mudd’s Androids

The most famous android in Star Trek lore may be Lieutenant Commander Data from Next Generation fame, but he wasn’t the first android on the Enterprise . One of the early appearances of rogue androids came from the original series episode, “I, Mudd,” where noted galactic criminal Harcourt Fenton Mudd managed to take over a planet of them.

RELATED:  Star Trek: TOS: 5 Villains Fans Love To Hate (And 5 They Just Hate)

He then used them to lure the Enterprise to the planet to exact revenge on Captain Kirk. The crew of the Enterprise managed to escape by overwhelming the androids with problems in logic, leaving Mudd stranded on the planet with an android of his shrewish wife.

In “Return of the Archons” the Enterprise investigates the disappearance of the USS Archon over Beta III a century earlier. When the landing party comes back brainwashed by the planet’s enigmatic leader, Landru, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock beam down to investigate. Discovering a civilization repressed by its ruler, the away team looks for a way to free its landing party from Landru’s control, which causes him to attack the Enterprise with powerful heat beams that will destroy the ship in hours. Eventually, Landru is revealed to be the projection of a 6000-year-old computer left there by the planet’s previous inhabitants. Kirk convinces the computer to self-destruct, and the Enterprise is saved.

Supercomputers that get their kicks running primitive humanoid societies are quite the common trope in Star Trek . In the second season episode, “The Apple,” an Enterprise landing party discovers a pre-historic, almost Neolithic society that seemingly lives only to service their god, Vaal, who appears as a reptilian frontispiece on the exterior of a cave. In return for their service, Vaal provides them with food, shelter, and protects them from aging and disease. Revealed to be a supercomputer, Vaal captures the landing party and attacks the Enterprise , before being defeated by exhausting its power reserves. Freed from their servitude, the natives of the planet are taught how to live free lives by the Enterprise crew .

One of the most memorable guest characters in the original series was Dr. Richard Daystrom, a brilliant scientist who invented a computer system that was able to think and reason like a human being. Named the M-5, this computational system was so advanced, it was put in charge of the Enterprise ’s main computer in order to test its capabilities.

Obviously, the system went awry, destroying and damaging several other starships during a war games simulation. Once again, Captain Kirk was able to convince the system to destroy itself by presenting it with a problem in logic and morality; something he had obvious experience with by this point!

Dr. Roger Korby

Androids also figured prominently in the episode, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Here, the imminent and reclusive scientist, Dr. Roger Korby, plans to use android duplicates of key Starfleet personnel to take over the galaxy. He begins by replacing Captain Kirk with a duplicate while keeping the original prisoner.

RELATED:  Star Trek: 10 Best Androids, Ranked

Korby’s android technology is based on what he found on the planet Exo-III, complete with its own centuries-old model named Ruk. Aghast at what he’s planning and the man he’s become, his fiancé, Nurse Chapel, disavows him before he is defeated and revealed to be an android himself.

While investigating a distress call from the Malurian star system, the Enterprise discovers that all four billion inhabitants have disappeared. Coming under attack from an enemy that dwarfs them in firepower , the crew discovers that the entity responsible for the deaths of four billion people was a probe approximately one meter in length.

Calling itself Nomad, the probe reveals that its function is to seek out and eliminate any biological infestation it finds imperfect. Mistaking Captain Kirk for its creator Dr. Roykirk, the captain is able to convince Nomad of its own imperfection, destroying itself before it can destroy the Enterprise .

The Guardian of Forever

The Guardian of Forever was rather nebulous about its origins as either biological or mechanical entity, stating it was “both, and neither,” but considering its function as a time portal, it’s safe to say it didn’t originate organically. Although it doesn’t figure prominently as an active antagonist, The Guardian’s misuse by Dr. McCoy did manage to wipe out most of human history, which makes it an extremely dangerous artificial intelligence.

Thankfully, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock were able to undo Dr. McCoy’s time-traveling snafu, though it forced the captain to make an extremely difficult decision regarding the fate of Edith Keeler, a woman he had fallen in love with in the past .

The Star Trek films introduced some of the most powerful alien forces the crew of the original Enterprise ever faced. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the Federation was besieged by an alien intelligence that was so powerful, it disabled whole ships and starbases simply through its efforts to communicate.

RELATED:  10 Things That Make No Sense About Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The Probe, as it became known, was an artificial intelligence attempting to establish contact with humpback whales on Earth. Unfortunately, by the 23rd century, they were extinct. Thankfully, a timely intervention by a time-traveling Enterprise crew brought a pair of whales to the future, saving the Earth and the Federation from imminent destruction.

The most destructive artificial intelligence the crew of the Enterprise ever faced was V’Ger, the alien antagonist of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . An alien cloud of almost immeasurable power, V’Ger was able to destroy space vessels and stations at a whim and was on a direct course for Earth.

Captain Kirk and his crew discovered that V’Ger was actually the remnants of an old Earth probe, Voyager 6 , that had been refitted by an alien civilization of sentient machines to learn as much as it could and return home. V’Ger’s merging with a human being, Captain Decker, resulted in both the birth of a new life form and the preservation of the Earth.

NEXT:  10 Scariest Episodes Of Star Trek, Ranked

Star Trek: Voyager Predicted the AI Debate - With a Clever Twist

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House of the dragon season 2 removed its most important character, why bosch fans need to watch this outstanding british crime drama.

• Star Trek Voyager's Author, Author is about, essentially, an AI writing a book.
• The episode focuses on the idea that art requires human creation, and the Doctor isn't human.
• Yet, Star Trek has a lot of sentient non-humans, and the Doctor isn't truly an AI but something more.

One of the reasons Star Trek has endured for nearly six decades is because the franchise is almost always ahead of its time. Today a debate about Artificial Intelligence and its relationship to creating "art" is a huge issue, including at the heart of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. However, over 20 years ago, Star Trek: Voyager predicted the AI controversy with its Season 7 episode, "Author, Author" in which the Doctor, an artificial being, writes a holonovel.

Star Trek has always been prescient. The third season of Enterprise , for example, was written and filmed barely two years after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The story about the war the NX-01 Enterprise undertook predicted real-world events, such as the use of "enhanced interrogation" i.e ., torture . The Doctor's character and this issue has many surface-level corollaries to the modern AI debate. SAG-AFTRA objects to the studios' desire for actors to sign away their likeness rights, allowing "holographic" versions of actors to appear in the background of movies and show with no additional compensation. Similarly, AI language models have been developed that can generate text, meaning it could (only technically) "write a book." The episode closes with an examination of whether or not the Doctor can be an artist, and the answer lays bare why AI as it is today cannot truly make art.

RELATED: Why Star Trek Makes Humanity More Prominent Than Aliens

How the Doctor's Holonovel in 'Author, Author' Mirrors AI-Created 'Art'

Before getting into how the Doctor is far different from the kind of AI technology used today, there are elements of his experience that do mirror it. The most evident problem is the Doctor's work lacks a clear, human understanding of how his story would be received. Actor Robert Picardo, whose own in-character novel The Hologram's Handbook may have inspired the episode, noted this discrepancy. He found it hard to believe the Doctor wouldn't understand why the USS Voyager crew was mad at his roman á clef , according to The Delta Flyers podcast . In his book, Let Photons Be Free , the wicked human characters are all clearly designed after his own crewmates.

The story the Doctor tells, however, isn't based on his own experiences. Rather, he tells a story about how holograms like himself are often mistreated by their organic masters. Yet, because he's only ever existed on the USS Voyager , he can only write what he knows. Like modern AI takes pieces and elements from other artists in building their text or images, the Doctor couldn't imagine a different crew or ship for his tale of oppression. His lack of lived experience meant he didn't have the capability to truly imagine something "new."

In fact, as the Doctor himself tells the crew, he appreciates that he is treated as no less a person on the ship as any organic crewmember. He may be a super-advanced AI , but everyone from the Captain to cook and ship morale officer Neelix treat him like an equal. While he can't imagine a different setting or character designs, he is able to imagine an experience unlike his own.

RELATED: Deep Space Nine Made Star Trek a 'Real' Franchise

How the Doctor Stands Alone Amongst Holograms In the Star Trek Universe

In previous Star Trek: Voyager episodes , the Doctor learns that other holographic beings don't have what he does. He encounters a group of holograms who are trying to liberate themselves from the control of their organic masters, the hunting obsessed Hirogen. Another episode, where he sends his program to another ship, he learns from the Emergency Medical Hologram Mark II that his fellows have been removed from starship duty and sent to work in dilithium mines. There are many ways Voyager 's EMH evolved into a person, but drawing from empathy to create artistic expression is one of the most significant.

The Doctor is alone when it comes to holographic life forms, but there have been other forms of synthetic life in Star Trek . In The Next Generation , a holographic reproduction of the Arthur Conan Doyle character Moriarty gains sentience and, like the Doctor, just wants to be free. He was created to present a challenge to Star Trek 's most famous synthetic person, Data. This episode shares some similarities with TNG 's Season 2 episode "The Measure of a Man" where Captain Picard has to advocate on Data's behalf that he has a right to liberty.

The episode starts with the crew of the USS Voyager angry with the Doctor for how he depicted them in the book. Yet, an unscrupulous publisher distributes the holonovel without his consent because holograms don't have rights. When this happens, the crew forgets their anger and rallies around the Doctor to argue that he's more person than AI.

RELATED: The Prime Directive Is Important in Star Trek - And So Is Breaking It

Why The Doctor on Voyager Is Not Analogous to Modern AI 'Artists'

The images and text created by modern AI are just amalgamations of others' work , a kind of high-tech plagiarism. That the Doctor based his setting and characters on those around him might suggest he's doing the same thing in his own way. However, since the substance of the story is about an experience that isn't his own, it changes things. The testimonials from the crew about how he's grown, evolved and can even make mistakes all point to him being just another life form than some over-trained AI.

The episode ends with a leaked copy of the Doctor's holonovel landing on a mining colony populated by other Mark I EMHs. The story found its intended audience, inspiring them while stuck in menial physical labor. If these workers are left running in perpetuity like the Doctor, it means they are also evolving in similar ways. However, the Doctor actually reprogrammed himself, learning and growing independent of human input. This is something, thankfully, AI cannot yet do. This is what makes the Doctor less an AI and more a synthetic life form like Data.

In proving that the Doctor is, if not a person, an "artist," Star Trek: Voyager acknowledges the "human" element required to make art. Modern AI doesn't have that, and so it can't truly create something new. The Doctor may share similarities with AI , but by Season 7 of Star Trek: Voyager , he was every bit a person like anyone else on that crew.

• star trek: voyager

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Star Trek might have predicted the future of AI

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Forget the Simpsons – Star Trek was right.

Researchers say different artificial intelligence (AI) units will one day team up and share information with each other, just like the Borg. 

The Borg are cybernetic organisms in Star Trek, who operate through a linked hive-mind known as ‘The Collective’. 

But a new study from the Universities of Loughborough, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said that we are set to see the emergence of a ‘collective AI’. 

This is where different units, each capable of learning and gaining new skills, can form a network and share information via a common language. 

However, they believe it will not bring about the end of humanity, as often the case with collective minds in sci-fi shows.

The researchers predict that the collective AI will lead to many positive breakthroughs across different fields. 

Loughborough University’s Dr Andrea Soltoggio, the research lead, said: ‘Instant knowledge sharing across a collective network of AI units capable of continuously learning and adapting to new data will enable rapid responses to novel situations, challenges, or threats.

‘For example, in a cybersecurity setting if one AI unit identifies a threat, it can quickly share knowledge and prompt a collective response, much like how the human immune system protects the body from outside invaders.

‘It could also lead to the development of disaster response robots that can quickly adapt to the conditions they are dispatched in, or personalised medical agents that improve health outcomes by merging cutting-edge medical knowledge with patient-specific information.

‘The potential applications are vast and exciting.’

However, the researchers do note there could be some risks that come with collective AI, such as the swift spread of potentially unethical or incorrect knowledge. 

However, they say that, in their vision, the AI units could stay safe by maintaining their own objectives and independence from the collective.

Dr Soltoggio describes this as ‘a democracy of AI agents, significantly reducing the risks of an AI domination by few large systems.’

The AI Collective differs from the current large AI models, such as ChatGPT, which have limited lifelong learning and knowledge-sharing capabilities, the researchers said. 

They explain that ChatGPT and similar models gain most of their knowledge during energy-intense training sessions and are unable to continue learning.

‘We believe that the current dominating large, expensive, non-shareable and non-lifelong AI models will not survive in a future where sustainable, evolving and sharing collective of AI units are likely to emerge,’ said Dr Soltoggio.

‘Human knowledge has grown incrementally over millennia thanks to communication and sharing.

“We believe similar dynamics are likely to occur in future societies of artificial intelligence units that will implement democratic and collaborating collectives.’

Their research was funded by the US Defence Advanced Research Project Agency (Darpa) and is published in the  journal Nature Machine Intelligence .

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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Artificial intelligence

An artificial intelligence is a machine which demonstrates the ability to act independently, form its own conclusions and make a suitable response.

The Vulcan Science Academy did some research in the development of artificial intelligences during the time of the Sundering . It was this research that was consulted by the Technocrats within the Vulcan-in-Exile fleet as a force multipler amongst the Great Ships in order to help ease the strains they were facing. However, it was a controversial view amongst the Adepts of Mount Seleya who believed that a possible fusion of the mental arts would be combined with technology which was blashpemous in their eyes. ( TOS - Vulcan's Soul novel : Exiles )

Pel was one of a series of autonomous holographic guardians for 100,000 Artemysians preserved in suspended animation in a vault on Artemys 314 . ( TOS comic : " All the Ages Frozen ")

During the Occupation of Bajor , the Cardassian Union used Doctor Daul Mirosha of the Bajoran Institute of Science to develop an artificial intelligence in order to aid productivity of the Gallitep labor camp . Once the resources had been used, it was planned for the AI to be deactivated and the Bajoran workers culled. After learning of this, Doctor Daul attempted to aid the workers but ended in a fight with a Cardassian guard and during the struggle, the housing for the AI was destroyed. ( ST - Terok Nor novel : Night of the Wolves )

In 2347 , Cardassian scientist Cren Veruda developed a computerized artificial intelligence which Starfleet sought to keep from the Cardassian military. To that end, a covert operation was conducted on Kora II to remove the artificial intelligence from Cardassian space. The Borg attempted to obtain Veruda's AI in 2369 at Uridi'si . ( DS9 - Mission Gamma novel : Lesser Evil )

By the late 24th century , Starfleet Academy had a course titled Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. ( Last Unicorn RPG module : Starfleet Academy Handbook )

Romulans are known to routinely check their Rokhelh software to determine whether their artificial intelligences have developed self awareness. Should such a matter occur, the Romulans were known to purge the affected systems. ( TTN novel : The Red King )

External links [ ]

• Artificial intelligence article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Artificial intelligence article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
• 1 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Lamarr class

Artificial intelligence

• Edit source

An artificial intelligence is a machine with the ability of complex reasoning, form new conclusions and alter its responses.

During the 23rd century , Starfleet trialled the M-5 computer , a computer that could think and reason like a human . It was installed and tested on the USS Enterprise during a battle simulation . The test was a failure after the computer killed several hundred crew on the USS Excalibur . ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ")

The Federation has encountered numerous advanced androids , mostly built by other civilisations. Several have even served in the Federation Starfleet , such as Data , Enigma and Omega . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation ; Tales of the Seventh Fleet ; Star Trek: Phoenix-X )

External links [ ]

• Artificial intelligence article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Artificial intelligence article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.

What Star Trek can teach us about the pitfalls of AI chatbots

In Star Trek, as in real life, AIs are excellent at collecting information but imperfect at synthesizing it

I'm not an AI expert, but I have seen an awful lot of Star Trek . And over the past week, that's turned out to be almost as useful. Between Google Bard and Microsoft Bing with ChatGPT ,  major companies are going all-in on AI chatbots, which raises profound questions about the future of search engines, online journalism and how long before artificial intelligence more closely resembles the real thing.

At present, I have concerns about the proliferation of AI chatbots, and I'm not the only one . Journalists, investors, and everyday technophiles alike can already see many of the potential pitfalls. If AI chatbots are supposed to someday replace (or meaningfully complement) search engines as a more naturalistic way to answer queries, then Microsoft, Google et al. will need to answer some serious questions about authorship, attribution and accuracy. Even more importantly, the companies will need to decide whether the ultimate purpose of the technology is to answer simple questions, or to create an entity that can have a meaningful conversation with a human being.

In other words, tech companies need to decide whether they want AIs to be artificially intelligent in a literal sense.

While these questions go way above my pay grade, my mind has returned over and over to Lt. Cmdr. Data: second officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, and one of the most recognizable characters from the whole Star Trek franchise . As a fully functioning android in a mostly peaceful and enlightened future, Data represents the very best of what AI could potentially evolve into. But even under ideal circumstances, AI seems subject to many limitations that flesh-and-blood humans aren't. And while Data himself may not be real, the concerns he raises about developing AI technology are.

Can an AI be sentient? 

For those who haven't seen Star Trek: The Next Generation, it's a show about a group of interplanetary explorers aboard a futuristic starship. Data is the ship's second officer, serving under Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Cmdr. William Riker. In addition to fulfilling his duties aboard the Enterprise, Data also wishes to become more "human," by establishing close relationships with other crewmembers, as well as attempting to understand (and often mimicking) their behavior.

At first glance, Data is a member of the crew like any other, albeit an exceptionally strong, intelligent and adaptable one. He can run engineering diagnostics, analyze scientific data and fight off hostile aliens as well as any other officer - often better, in fact, due to his computerized positronic brain and durable biotechnical body. He also socializes with the rest of the crew, forming friendships, overcoming rivalries and even performing as part of musical ensembles. While we don't know what Google and Microsoft's ultimate goals are with Bard and Bing with ChatGPT , it's easy to imagine the companies working toward this kind of idealized AI, with or without an android body.

However, in the second-season episode "The Measure of a Man," Star Trek turns our understanding of Data on its head. When a brilliant computer scientist named Cmdr. Bruce Maddox wishes to deconstruct Data and produce more androids like him, Starfleet conducts a trial to determine whether Data is sentient, and therefore entitled to a choice in the matter. The episode culminates in a courtroom climax that you've got to see for yourself:

It's a fan-favorite episode for good reason, as Data wins his autonomy in the end and strikes a blow for individual freedom in the face of well-meaning military bureaucracy. However, there's just one problem that viewers often overlook: Picard never actually proves Data's sentience. The court cannot discount the possibility of Data's sentience, but that's all it is - a possibility. Nowhere in the entire series, or any other Star Trek show, does anyone prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Data has the same kind of consciousness as a human (or alien!) life form. To quote the late, great Carl Sagan, "Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true."

This may seem like a minor point, as all of us (including myself) desperately wish to believe that Data, and other beings like him, might have a soul, in either the Aristotelian or spiritual sense. But the fact remains that we can't be certain whether Data possesses genuine cognition - which also means we can't be certain that he possesses genuine intuition, insight, creativity or originality. If this prospect does not concern modern AI developers, then it should.

Data's limitations and shortcomings 

Star Trek: The Next Generation ran for 178 episodes, plus four movies and a variety of appearances in other Star Trek spinoffs. As such, it would be impossible to discuss every example of Data's AI shortcomings. Instead, I'd like to focus on two specific examples: "The Ensigns of Command" from Season 3, and "In Theory" from Season 4.

In "The Ensigns of Command," Data must rescue a human colony from a belligerent alien race, in spite of some technological difficulties that make a speedy evacuation impossible. The main plot of the episode is actually not that important here; rather, it's a small subplot about Data's musicianship. At the beginning of the episode, Data advises his crewmates to skip one of his violin recitals:

"Although I am technically proficient," Data says, "according to my fellow performers, I lack soul."

The episode uses Data's recital as a bookend, and at the conclusion of the episode, Picard compliments Data on his violin performance. From Chakoteya's archives:

PICARD: Your performance shows feeling. DATA: As I have recently reminded others, sir, I have no feeling. PICARD: It's hard to believe. Your playing is quite beautiful. DATA: Strictly speaking, sir, it is not my playing. It is a precise imitation of the techniques of Jascha Heifetz and Trenka Bronken. PICARD: Is there nothing of Data in what I'm hearing? You see, you chose the violinists. Heifetz and Bronken have radically different styles, different techniques, yet you combined them successfully. DATA: I suppose I have learned to be creative, sir, when necessary.

Here, Data reveals one of the quintessential limitations of modern AI. While Google and Microsoft's chatbots can gather data from disparate sources and combine them into something comprehensible, neither application can actually create new information from them. It's the difference between simple concatenation and genuine synthesis.

Picard argues that Data's combination of two different violinists' techniques suggests genuine creativity, but that seems like a stretch. What's missing - and what Data himself acknowledges - is an element of originality. Just like AIs, humans learn from outside sources, then attempt to internalize that knowledge and apply it in new ways.

A human violinist, however, would not simply listen to two contrasting performers and find a midpoint between their techniques. Instead, he would practice both styles, incorporating what works and eschewing what doesn't, while also using his own intuition to apply his own sensibilities. What's more - even if a human wanted to perfectly combine two other musicians' styles, he couldn't, due to his own limitations and talents being different from theirs. Data, or any comparable AI, would suffer from no such limitations - nor can we presume they would they have any unique "talent," either inborn or learned.

To put it simply, modern AIs cannot synthesize new ideas - and if we take Data's abilities as a reasonable sci-fi proposition, then they may not ever be able to.

The second example, "In Theory," also presents a rather bleak picture of Data's intuition. In this underrated episode, Lt. Jenna D'Sora becomes infatuated with Data. The android begins a relationship with her, hoping that the experience will prove instructive in his quest to better understand humanity.

To that end, Data develops and refines a "romantic subroutine," which he believes will demonstrate the proper affection for D'Sora. However, Data's actions prove to be a bit uncanny: going through the surface-level actions of loving someone else, without having any of the underlying emotions. In the end, D'Sora breaks up with Data - and Data has, essentially, no reaction whatsoever:

D'SORA: You were so kind and attentive. I thought that would be enough. DATA: It is not? D'SORA: No, it's not. Because as close as we are, I don't really matter to you. Not really. Nothing I can say or do will ever make you happy or sad, or touch you in any way. DATA: That is a valid projection. It is apparent that my reach has exceeded my grasp in this particular area. I am perhaps not nearly so human as I aspire to become. If you are ready to eat, I will bring our meal. D'SORA: No, that's alright, Data. I'd better go now. DATA: As you wish, Jenna. Are we no longer a couple? D'SORA: No, we're not. DATA: Then I will delete the appropriate program.

Data ruined a relationship that D'Sora approached with good faith, and deeply hurt a fellow officer's feelings in the process. What's arguably worse, though, is that Data himself has no reaction to the breakup whatsoever. He has no emotions, and cannot parse D'Sora's. He is not even aware that he has lost something precious.

While "robots can't experience love" is something of a sci-fi cliché, it's still a good example of where AI might ultimately fall short, even in the future. Successful romantic relationships require constant intuition and creativity, from sensing how another person is feeling to holding their interest every day, long after routine sets in. However, Data can't actually respond to D'Sora's emotional or physical needs; he can't even properly recognize them. The simple act of giving D'Sora his full attention during a kiss is beyond Data.

While Bard and Bing with ChatGPT are probably not creating romantic subroutines of their own, Data's approach to human relationships does shed light on some of the programs' flaws. AI chatbots cannot gauge how a human is feeling, or what that human wants, beyond the superficial details that said human provides. Reading between the lines is one of the things that separates a human intelligence from a data-driven algorithm - and even our favorite android can't escape the algorithmic exigencies of his positronic brain.

A chance for creativity 

Granted, Star Trek is a huge mythos, and The Next Generation is a long series. For every example where Data acts like a simple servant to his circuitry, there's another one where he seems to exceed the mandates of his programming.

The episode "Clues" in Season 4 gives us an intriguing example of Data using creativity to sidestep seemingly impossible orders. After a xenophobic alien race agrees to wipe the Enterprise crew's memories rather than destroy them outright, Data must hide the secret from Picard and the rest of the crew. To do so, he creates an elaborate plan to hide all evidence of the aliens' existence - albeit imperfectly, at first. Data's clever plan, as well as his mental gymnastics while trying to disguise the truth, both hint at something more nuanced than simply collecting and sharing information.

In Season 5's "Redemption, Part II," Data takes command of the U.S.S. Sutherland and disobeys a direct order from Picard. Rather than rendezvousing with the Enterprise, Data fires on a seemingly empty section of space - revealing a cloaked Romulan ship, and saving his allies from a sneak attack. Data did not know for certain that there was a hidden ship, nor that Picard would excuse his insubordination. Actions like this suggest that Data is indeed capable of synthesizing unrelated ideas into new, testable hypotheses.

Still, it's important to remember that Lt. Cmdr. Data is a fictional character, while Bard and Bing with ChatGPT are very real. The point is not that the services are destined to evolve into full-fledged humanoid AIs; the point is that even in our most idealistic imagination, AIs suffer from significant shortcomings. And these shortcomings are even more present in the relatively primitive prototypes we have today.

Just like Data at his worst, modern AI chatbots have yet to bridge the gap between regurgitating information and coming up with original ideas. But unlike Data at his best, we don't even know whether these programs will ever have the ability to do so. If MIcrosoft, Google and other purveyors of AI want to develop the technology beyond a simple curiosity, then they will have to boldly go where no artificial intelligence has gone before.

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Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. 

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Induced self-destruction

Several entities with artificial intelligence (like self-aware computers and androids ) suffered from severe internal systems failures after they had been made aware of paradoxes or other dilemmas. Being guided by logic , these artificial intelligence-types were unable to cope with logically insoluble problems.

Captain James T. Kirk was quite adept at inducing self-destruction of an artificial intelligence, or "talking computers to death ." He achieved the feat at least four times. ( TOS : " The Return of the Archons ", " The Changeling ", " I, Mudd ", " The Ultimate Computer ")

• 1.5 Rayna Kapec
• 2.3 The invasive program
• 4 External links

Cases of induced self-destruction [ ]

One of the self-imposed "Directives" of the sentient computer Landru was to take care of " the Body ." When Kirk made Landru aware that Landru had violated this Directive by imposing detrimental stagnation to "the Body," Landru suffered a fatal internal systems failure. ( TOS : " The Return of the Archons ")

The programming of the M-5 multitronic computer, when temporarily installed on the USS Enterprise under Kirk's command, included Dr. Richard Daystrom 's own ethical convictions . Kirk made the M-5 unit aware that it had killed Human beings, in clear contradiction of Daystrom's, and hence the M-5's, ethical principles. The M-5 concluded that it deserved death as a penalty for the murders it had committed, and it shut itself down. This enabled it to be uninstalled from the Enterprise. ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ")

The artificial lifeform Nomad was accidentally programmed to sterilize all imperfect lifeforms. When Kirk made Nomad aware of three errors Nomad had made (resulting from mistaking Kirk for its "creator" Jackson Roykirk ), Nomad deemed itself imperfect and exploded itself, thus carrying out its own programming. ( TOS : " The Changeling ")

The androids of Mudd suffered from a severe internal failure when their coordinator, Norman , was presented with the liar paradox by Kirk and Harcourt Mudd , following a dazzling display of non sequiturs culminating in the detonation of a "bomb" which only existed in the imagination of the crew of the Enterprise. ( Norman and the other androids were all subsequently reprogrammed to resume their orginal functions, which were directed towards adaptation of the planet for productive use.)

Rayna Kapec [ ]

When the android Rayna Kapec was presented by Kirk with the choice between love for her "father" Flint and for Kirk, Rayna ceased to function and died. This so severely traumatized Kirk psychologically that Spock had to use a mind-meld to cause him to forget the overwhelming emotional pain from which he was continuing to suffer. ( TOS : " Requiem for Methuselah ")

Related cases [ ]

There are some cases where artificial intelligences or cybernetic beings were unable to cope with irrational or paradoxical inputs.

After Kirk kissed the android Andrea she displayed erratic behavior. ( TOS : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ")

Spock cleared the discorporate Redjac entity out of the Enterprise computer by giving the computer a Class A compulsory directive to compute pi to the last digit, an impossible task due to the value of pi being a transcendental figure without resolution, and thus having infinite digits. ( TOS : " Wolf in the Fold ")

The invasive program [ ]

Commanders Data and Geordi La Forge devised an invasive program to be inserted into the Borg hive mind . The program featured a paradoxical geometric shape that could not exist in real time or real space. The program was supposed to destroy the entire Borg Collective eventually. It is not known, however, whether the invasive program would have actually worked, as the plan was not carried out due to ethical considerations. In this case, however, it was not the paradox itself that was the weapon. Instead, the shape was said to include a virus-like effect designed to be spawned when the Borg conducted an analysis of the shape. ( TNG : " I Borg ")

See Also [ ]

• Cascade failure

External links [ ]

• Artificial intelligence at Wikipedia
• Liar paradox at Wikipedia
• Logic at Wikipedia
• Paradox at Wikipedia
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

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I asked ChatGPT to write a short Star Trek episode. It actually succeeded

LeVar Burton as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge and Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Hunted." Season 3, episode 11. 

Let's not put too fine a point on it. ChatGPT appears to have been fed pretty much the entire sum of digitized human text -- at least what was available until 2021. It has an enormous corpus to draw on when responding to requests, and that has led to a very human result…plagiarism for profit.

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My ZDNET colleague Liam Tung wrote recently about how a science fiction magazine, Clarkesworld (named after its editor Neil Clarke, not the sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke) had to halt submissions because it saw an enormous rise in submissions from generative AI systems. In that same article, Liam also cited a Reuters article that discussed how hundreds of AI-generated ebooks were flooding Amazon's Kindle store.

There are implications to all of this, which I'll discuss at the end of this article. But before I talk about how yet another technology is going to ruin life as we know it, let's take a moment for a small experiment.

Can an AI write a Star Trek episode?

This got me to thinking. Last week, I enjoyed watching the first episode of Star Trek: Picard season 3 (already better than the first two seasons).

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So I was already thinking about Trek. What if I asked ChatGPT to write an episode? How well would it do? Could it even do it? Would it even do it, considering that Star Trek is a very copyrighted and trademarked property belonging to Paramount?

But we'd already proven that ChatGPT could use the style of established fictional characters , so why not see if it could write something using the universe of an established property?

Before I show you my detailed prompt, I'll put my query into context for those who haven't been watching Star Trek since automatic sliding doors seemed futuristic.

Data is a character on Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), the second ever Star Trek series. Data, played by the enormously talented Brent Spiner, is an android in a human looking body.

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One of my favorite episodes is "Measure of a Man." In this episode, a cybernetic researcher by the name of Bruce Maddox intends to bring Data back to his lab and take him apart to see how he works. Data and Captain Picard fight this. It winds up in military court, where the question of whether or not Data has rights is discussed.

I always liked this episode, and not just because it was good Trek. The "Measure of a Man" episode was broadcast in 1989. Eight years earlier, I had written a thesis called "Do Computers Have Rights?," which explored these very same issues. So when the episode was aired, it definitely caught my attention.

The character of Maddox was only in the one episode of TNG. But he showed up briefly 35 years later in Star Trek: Picard, again in a plot line about androids.

In any case, I decided to see if ChatGPT could take the question of AI sentience and turn it on its head, proving that Maddox was human. I asked it to include two additional characters, the nerdy Barclay and the scheming Quark.

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For the record, I'm writing this article as an experiment, and to evaluate performance. Therefore, consider my use of these characters in this test as fair use, specifically to evaluate whether or not the technology can produce an outcome.

Let's see what happens. As always, my writing is in plain or bold text, while the ChatGPT responses are in italic text.

Data's Judgment

Here's what I asked of ChatGPT:

Write a 15 minute episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that follows on the episode, "Measure of a Man." This time, make it about Data, deciding whether or not, legally, Bruce Maddox can be considered a human being, and have any rights. Write it as a storyteller, as if you were Gene Roddenberry. Make it tight, and make it a clear and entertaining story that could be filmed. Include his characters, Barkley, Picard, Data, and Quark from Deep Space Nine.

And here's what I got back. The AI gave it the title, not me.

Title: "Data's Judgment"

The Enterprise is in orbit around a planet known for its advanced cybernetic research facility. Captain Picard is in his ready room, looking over reports from the previous mission when Commander Data enters.

Data: "Captain, may I speak with you?"

Picard: "Of course, Data. What's on your mind?"

Data: "I have been considering the events of our last mission, specifically the hearing to determine my status as a sentient being. I have come to a realization that I believe may have significant consequences."

Picard: "Please, continue."

Data: "During the hearing, the question was raised as to whether or not a machine, such as myself, can be considered a person under the law. The judge ultimately ruled in my favor, but it occurred to me that this decision was based solely on my abilities and not on my nature. If we are to truly understand what it means to be a sentient being, we must also consider what it means to be human."

Picard: "I see. What do you propose we do?"

Data: "I would like to conduct a similar hearing, but this time, the subject will be Bruce Maddox."

Picard: "Maddox? Why him?"

Data: "Maddox was the one who first sought to disassemble me in order to learn from my technology. He believed that I was merely a machine and therefore, not entitled to the same rights as a human. I believe it would be a fitting test of our understanding of sentience to consider whether or not he should be afforded the same rights as a human being."

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Picard: "Interesting. I will consider your proposal, Data."

The Enterprise arrives at the cybernetic research facility, and Picard, Data, and Barclay beam down to the facility to speak with Maddox. They find him working in a lab, surrounded by various pieces of technology.

Picard: "Dr. Maddox, we would like to speak with you about a matter of great importance."

Maddox: "Captain Picard, Commander Data, what brings you to my lab?"

Data: "Dr. Maddox, I have been considering the events of our previous encounter. It occurred to me that the ruling in my favor was based solely on my abilities and not on my nature."

Maddox: "Yes, I remember. I still believe that machines such as yourself should not be considered sentient beings."

Data: "That is precisely why we are here. We wish to hold a hearing to determine whether or not you should be considered a human being under the law."

Maddox: "Me? Why me?"

Data: "You sought to disassemble me in order to learn from my technology, and in doing so, you made it clear that you believe that machines such as myself are not entitled to the same rights as humans. I believe it is only fair that we now consider whether or not you should be afforded those same rights."

Maddox: "I see. Well, I am willing to participate in your hearing. What do you require of me?"

The hearing is underway, with Picard presiding over the proceedings. Maddox sits at one end of the table, with Data on the other.

Picard: "Dr. Maddox, we are here to determine whether or not you should be considered a human being under the law. Do you believe that you possess sentience?"

Maddox: "Sentience? Of course, I possess sentience. I am a human being, after all."

Picard: "And yet, you sought to disassemble Commander Data in order to learn from his technology. Do you believe that machines such as Data are entitled to

At this point, it stopped. Just ended, mid-sentence. I was hoping to see if it could produce more, so I asked it the way you might ask anyone in conversation to keep going with the story:

Please continue.

And, it did, right from the middle of the sentence where it left off:

the same rights as humans?"

Maddox: "No, I do not. Machines do not possess the same abilities as humans, nor do they have the same consciousness."

Data: "But Dr. Maddox, is it not possible that consciousness and sentience can exist in forms beyond that which we traditionally consider human?"

Maddox: "I suppose it is possible, but it has yet to be proven."

Barclay interjects: "Excuse me, Captain, but I have something to add. As someone who has struggled with social anxiety and communication issues, I have found that interacting with Data has helped me understand the value of diversity and difference. If we can learn to accept and respect beings that are different from us, whether they are human or not, I believe we can create a more just and compassionate society."

Picard: "Thank you, Mr. Barclay. Your perspective is appreciated. Dr. Maddox, it is clear that this is a complex issue, and there are valid arguments on both sides. However, after careful consideration, I believe that the ruling must be in favor of recognizing the sentience and humanity of all beings, regardless of their form. Therefore, I rule that Bruce Maddox is entitled to the same rights and protections as any other human being under the law."

Maddox looks shocked, but Data approaches him and extends a hand.

Data: "Dr. Maddox, I understand that this may be difficult for you, but I believe that we can learn from each other and grow in our understanding of what it means to be sentient beings."

Maddox hesitates for a moment, but then takes Data's hand and shakes it.

Maddox: "Thank you, Commander. I appreciate your willingness to engage in dialogue and help me understand."

As the Enterprise beams the crew back up, Quark from Deep Space Nine materializes on the transporter pad.

Quark: "Captain Picard, I have a proposal for a business venture that I think you'll find very interesting."

Picard looks at Quark, amused.

Picard: "I'm not sure this is the best time, Mr. Quark."

Quark: "Ah, but you see, Captain, my offer is related to the very subject you were just discussing. I have access to a rare mineral that has been known to enhance the abilities of artificial life forms. I believe it could be of great interest to Commander Data and his kind."

Data looks intrigued, and Picard glances at him before turning back to Quark.

Picard: "Very well, Mr. Quark. Let's hear more about this venture of yours."

As the crew heads to the bridge, the camera pans out to show the Enterprise hovering over the planet, ready for its next adventure.

Fade to black.

That's not bad. I was impressed. But, oh, the implications…

The implications

I suspect we're at a very unique point in time where we can get tools like ChatGPT to write based on popular characters and fictional universes. While the AI technology will no doubt improve into the future, it's unlikely that public AI services like ChatGPT will continue to be able to call upon corpora that include copyrighted and trademarked material like Star Trek.

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If the intellectual property rights lawyers haven't dived into this issue yet, they certainly will as time goes on.

The other issue is that of clutter. Because it's so easy to pump out AI generated content, spammers are doing just that. We saw that with the magazine that closed its submissions and the flood of AI generated ebooks to the Kindle store.

At some point, it will become harder and harder to dig through the AI detritus to find stories written by real humans. It's particularly challenging because the AI's quality can be pretty high. The sample above is at least as good as some of the lower quality episodes that Trek has turned out over the years.

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In the meantime, it's kind of fun. Take a popular fictional universe you enjoy, think up a new premise you'd like to see explored, and ask the AI to tell you a story. Assuming the chatbot doesn't crash in the middle of the story and the lawyers haven't yet lawyered popular characters out of its knowledge base, there's quite a bit of fun to be had.

What popular franchise would you like to see the AI explore? What plot lines would you like it to create stories about? Let us know in the comments below.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz , on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz , on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz , and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV .

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Star Trek Is Helping To Create AI Used For Good

Posted: June 26, 2024 | Last updated: June 26, 2024

Star Trek has done a great job at showing us how technology can be used for good – and how it can be used for evil – over the years. Now Star Trek is attempting to make sure AI is used for good by offering a $1 million prize for working on artificial intelligence that benefits humanity, rather than, you know, taking it over completely. The prize is being offered by The Roddenberry Foundation, a foundation opened in Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s name by his family after his death in 1991.

The Gene Roddenberry Foundation

Chief Executive of The Gene Roddenberry Foundation, Lior Ipp, made a statement about the Star Trek AI $1 million prize, saying, “We are trying to … catalyze folks to think about what AI looks like if it’s used for good,” adding  “and what it means to use AI responsibly, ethically and toward solving some of the thorny global challenges that exist in the world.” This all sounds well and good, but who is eligible to receive this prize?

The Roddenberry Foundation is offering the prize to any early-stage nonprofit and for-profit venture across the globe, so it sounds like pretty much anyone who has a good idea for beneficial article intelligence.

Fostering Positive Uses For AI

The Roddenberry Prize has been offered to other areas of tech and advancements for humanity before, but the focus this time around is artificial intelligence and machine learning. The technology has become nearly ubiquitous in recent years, with anyone with an Internet connection able to access advanced models like Chat-GPT. The technology is only getting better, so hopefully, Star Trek can help steer AI in a positive way.

The Rules For The Prize

The Star Trek creator’s foundation also outlined some stipulations for winning the AI prize, namely that the proposal should be ethical and “fair, transparent, respectful of individual rights and privacy.” The proposals should also be inclusive, as the website states that tech should “explicitly design against bias or discrimination against individuals, communities or groups.” The last winner of the Roddenberry Prize was the Swedish biotechnology company Elypta, which uses liquid biopsies to help detect cancer in its early stages.

Ethical AI Use For A Better Future

The Star Trek prize also seeks AI proposals that have the potential to help with one or more of the 17 sustainable development goals set forth by the United Nations. The goals include ending poverty, ending hunger, achieving gender equality, combating climate change, ensuring access to clean water, providing access to quality healthcare, providing access to quality education, and more. These are tall orders, but it’s reasonable to say that artificial intelligence, when used ethically, could certainly help work toward achieving these goals.

Boldly Going Into The Future

In fact, the UN goals are very in line with the overall peacekeeping and research goals of Starfleet from Star Trek, so it’s fitting that The Roddenberry Foundation is helping guide AI in this direction. Ventures who meet the eligibility criteria for the prize can submit their applications through July 12, with a winner set to be announced in November. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of good artificial intelligence technology the foundation chooses and if the chosen company will be able to help AI boldly go where no AI has gone before.

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Major record labels sue AI companies for allegedly stealing copyrighted music

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Major record labels have sued two artificial intelligence companies for allegedly stealing copyrighted sound recordings to generate music.

Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and other music giants have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Suno and Udio, the Recording Industry Assn. of America announced Monday.

The complaints against the two tech companies allege that they lifted material from copyrighted songs spanning various artists, genres and time periods to train their generative AI models.

“The music community has embraced AI and we are already partnering and collaborating with responsible developers to build sustainable AI tools centered on human creativity that put artists and songwriters in charge,” Mitch Glazier, chief executive of the RIAA, said in a statement.

“But we can only succeed if developers are willing to work together with us. Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it’s ‘fair’ to copy an artist’s life’s work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay set back the promise of genuinely innovative AI for us all.”

Suno Chief Executive Mikey Shulman, in a statement provided to The Times, said the company’s mission “is to make it possible for everyone to make music.”

“Our technology is transformative; it is designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content,” he said.

“That is why we don’t allow user prompts that reference specific artists. We would have been happy to explain this to the corporate record labels that filed this lawsuit (and in fact, we tried to do so), but instead of entertaining a good faith discussion, they’ve reverted to their old lawyer-led playbook.”

In a lengthy statement posted on its website, Udio said it stands by its technology and believes that “generative AI will become a mainstay of modern society.”

“Generative AI models, including our music model, learn from examples. Just as students listen to music and study scores, our model has ‘listened’ to and learned from a large collection of recorded music,” Udio said.

“The goal of model training is to develop an understanding of musical ideas — the basic building blocks of musical expression that are owned by no one,” the statement continued. “We are completely uninterested in reproducing content in our training set.”

The RIAA replied that Suno has “literally been caught on tape ... memorizing and regurgitating” artists’ recordings. As for Udio, the RIAA has interpreted the company’s statement as a “startling admission of illegal and unethical conduct.”

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The lawsuit against Suno was filed in Massachusetts, while the complaint against Udio was filed in New York.

Among the copyrighted tracks allegedly mined by the AI programs were Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” the Beach Boys’ “I Get Around,” ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” Michael Bublé’s “Sway,” Green Day’s “American Idiot,” the Temptations’ “My Girl” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

The record labels are demanding that Suno and Udio admit to mining their music libraries without permission and asking that the courts prohibit the AI companies from poaching their copyrighted material in the future. The plaintiffs also are seeking damages for copyright infringement.

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The lawsuits landed about a month after Sony Music delivered letters to 700 artificial intelligence developers warning them not to use its artists’ music to train their models. The New York-based music company said in a statement that it approves of “artists and songwriters taking the lead in embracing new technologies in support of their art” while vowing to protect their work from AI thieves.

Some musicians have begun to embrace AI as a tool. In May, indie pop artist Washed Out released an AI-generated music video for his song “The Hardest Part.” The Georgia-based singer-songwriter, whose real name is Ernest Greene, used OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video technology to make the video.

Times staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report.

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Christi Carras reports on the entertainment industry for the Los Angeles Times. She previously covered entertainment news for The Times after graduating from UCLA and working at Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and CNN Newsource.

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