android, hologram, or other AI in principle cast on next TV series

[jefferiestubes8]

I was thinking about an old thread I started
Emergency Medical Hologram in future Trek ?
and what others may want in the next Trek series main characters.

In TNG we had "Data" who was a Soong-type android, the first and only such being to ever enter Starfleet.
In VOY we had a Emergency Medical Hologram EMH "The Doctor"
In ENT we did not have an principle castmember artificial intelligence being character but only the Humanoid Figure as a recurring character.

What type of AI character (if any) would you want in the next Trek TV series as a principle character?

 

[Orphalesion]

No artificial character please it has been done, twice over. Data was awesome, but any homage to him would just be a lesser ripp-off (see the EMH)
I could see a ships AI like Rommie in Andromeda, but then ST would be accused of ripping off Andromeda....
ANd please, if we get an AI character, please don't give him/her/it an desire to understand humanity/become more human.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

^ Agree completely.

I wouldn't mind an EMH being used in the background during a medical emergency, to show the technology is still in use and developing but no lines and no development. As for other androids, it takes away from Data's uniqueness--besides none of them would be seen as sentient life-forms without undergoing their own trial. Shipboard AI will always be there, but if it is fully aware and complex to run the ship why would it need a crew?

Wouldn't mind someone having cybernetic properties (not Borg), but I'd rather have an interesting alien than an artificial character.

 

[T'Girl]

As with any character, is the artificial being well conceived, well casted, and can the writers give them an interesting story line and do so on a weekly basis?

I would certainly have nothing against a artifical in the main hero group.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

ANd please, if we get an AI character, please don't give him/her/it an desire to understand humanity/become more human.

Unfortunately I think the producers would ask the writers to explore this in depth to fill with ship-based episodes especially in the 2nd and 3rd seasons when story ideas are slimmer.
Look how many VOY episodes did this with the EMH after TNG did it years earlier. To be honest a major plot point in the 1996 film ST:First Contact was with Data getting human skin grafted to his arm from the Borg Queen and Data's emotion chip. With this new skin, Data is able to feel all new sensations.
The very idea of an emotion chip is writer's making an AI becoming more human as a character for the audience. I would like to _NOT_ see an emotion chip in the next AI android myself.

 

[Orphalesion]

Look how many VOY episodes did this with the EMH after TNG did it years earlier.

That was my point, hence my aversion to having another artificial character.

 

[-Brett-]

I find human (actual or allegorical) characters more interesting than AIs, although there may be some merit to an AI as part of a cast. Concentrate all the technobabble into the AI so that the acual characters can spend their time doing something interesting.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I wouldn't mind if there was an android or hologram that was a reoccurring or minor character, but not as a main character.

 

[eyeresist]

Given AI is becoming increasingly likely, it would be remiss of a Trek show not to deal with it. Perhaps on a more sophisticated level than Pinocchio, though.

I have no idea what relevance "Humanoid figure" has to this thread.

 

[arch101]

Data was unique for his time but I believe he was a glimpse into the future. I'd like to see a Trek with humanoids, aliens, sentient androids, sentient AI and sentient holograms. The previous Treks all hinted at a future where all these forms of life would be commonplace. There's lots of stories to tell with this mix.

 

[Hando]

And what about a Nano-swarm?

 

[eyeresist]

It would be hard to give a nano-swarm a relatable characterisation. Unless you say that the swarm spends most of its time in humanoid form, in which case it you'd just have Odo 2.0.

 

[Hawku]

How about an Android with multiple people inside of him/her, but instead of fighting to take control, they all get along quite well.

 

[TPT]

Though Data is one of my most favorite Star Trek characters, I am ambivalent about having another A.I. character on the next Star Trek series. (I’m okay with having an A.I. character as a guest character but not as a regular character.)

I feel this way, because I’m afraid that the creators of the next show will recycle themes and stories already explored by Data in TNG and use them as a crutch instead of coming up with their own unique characters and fresh stories.

As much as I am fond of Data, I don’t need to see other characters that are just Data ver.2 and Data Ver.3 who play out recycled Data stories.

 

[JoeZhang]

A horta that wanted to be more Klingon.

I've never liked X wants to learn what it means to human - always comes across as an afternoon school special for slightly slow people.

 

[SPCTRE]

For a second there I thought this was about the technology I would like to see employed to replace actual actors.

 

[wildsulu]

Ideally I'd like to see both an AI and a genetically changed character, but at the same time that it's no big deal and gets little attetion. Why? Because it seems plausible for the future.

But I don't think TV/Movie producers are capable of having such a character and NOT making a big deal out of it. So, with that being the case, I prefer not to have any AI or augment character in a show or movie.

But I think it would be fun to have a crewmember who's 1/2 binar. 1/2 because it would make him/her look more appealing to a human audience. Still it could be interesting to have a crewmember who looks at things more mathematically (and who isn't a vulcan)

 

[xvicente]

I like this guy: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/0718

 

[hux]

If the show is set post Voyager then hologram use will have become an immoral abuse of "potential" sapient life forms due to recognition of the doctors sapience

See discussion in Voyager board for further information

 

[eyeresist]

I don't think having holo-crew is immoral. I think given current advances in enhanced reality, it would make more sense to have virtual crew members than build mechanical replicas of humans.

You could also have a robot specifically for physically hazardous situations, which would mostly be off-ship. Though in that case, it might make more sense to use a mechanism which could be remotely controlled. So when something went wrong it would just be a case of "the machine is damaged", as opposed to "ohnoes Robbie the Robot is dead maybe!"