Other Androids in Star Trek?

[James Wright]

I know this is only going to be speculation bur whatever happened to the planet of androids seen in TOS episode "I, Mudd"?
If the androids still existed in the 24th century why was Data treated as the only android in existance?

JDW

 

[SiddFinch1]

The Organians took all the Androids and the Kelvans to the Guardian of Forever and put a force field around the planet

 

[M'Sharak]

If the androids still existed in the 24th century why was Data treated as the only android in existance?

He wasn't.

He was, I believe, the only android (and the only serving in Starfleet and the only android with an officer's commission (and, at the time he was introduced, the only known functioning Soong android.)

 

[Timo]

It would indeed seem that Data was the only sentient android in existence in the TNG/DS9/VOY era. At least this is what Torres claims outright when the Pralor android interviews her in VOY "Prototype".

This of course skirts the issue of Lore and Julianna Tainer, two further Soongian androids that may or may not have existed at that time. But Torres might omit those for simplicity, or she might be aware that Lore was dismantled and that Julianna had recently died, or something. And she might dismiss any further Soongian creations as incomplete.

It may well be that the Federation still dabbles in androids in the 24th century, but sees no reason to give them sapience. Or it may be that the Federation eagerly toys with all sorts of artificial sapience, but sees no value in putting those in android bodies. Dr Soong seems to have been alone in his quest for android sapience - the leading Federation researcher Ira Graves rather dismisses Soong's flagship product, Data, in TNG "The Schitzoid Man".

The planet of androids might not count as a planet of sentient androids by the 24th century standards; the puppets there weren't all that sophisticated mentally, after all. Norman might have been the only really sentient android there, and he could be gone for good.

Alternately, the planet might never have become part of the Federation, nor even agreed to deal with it, which would lead Torres to exclude it from consideration.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Silvermane]

I thought Data was the only positronic android. My assumption was there could be others.

 

[Timo]

That's the natural assumption - but Torres in "Prototype" claims that

Torres: "I guess you could say the robots we use are servants in a manner of speaking. But they aren't sentient like you. In fact, we have only one sentient artificial life form in our society, and he is treated the same as any human."

Sure, she could be lying. Or she could be saying that her "society" is Starfleet. Or she could be saying that her "society" is mankind (note her racist "same as any human" here), and the thousands of sentient androids built by Vulcans don't count.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[chancellorjake]

This of course skirts the issue of Lore and Julianna Tainer, two further Soongian androids that may or may not have existed at that time. But Torres might omit those for simplicity, or she might be aware that Lore was dismantled and that Julianna had recently died, or something. And she might dismiss any further Soongian creations as incomplete.

I've always assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it came down to public knowledge of those androids. How much information would Starfleet declassify to the Federation's public database.
I would imagine that only the Senior officers on the Enterprise-D know the true nature of Julianna Tainer's existence. Data decided not to reveal that she was a Soong-type android, so I doubt any records of her true nature were even kept.

The planet of androids might not count as a planet of sentient androids by the 24th century standards; the puppets there weren't all that sophisticated mentally, after all. Norman might have been the only really sentient android there, and he could be gone for good.

Starfleet might have felt that a planet full of android servants was too dangerous to reveal to the Federation populace. Not to mention what the Orion Syndicate, Klingon Empire, and Romulan Star Empire could have done with all those androids. All records about that mission were most likely sealed and Kirk ordered the crew not to discuss those events. The planet could have even been quarantined.

 

[Timo]

Good points about the desire for secrecy. And the Academy dropout Torres probably wouldn't have been privy to too many Starfleet secrets.

One would still assume that there'd be too many advanced androids in the Trek galaxy to keep secret forever. Some other sort of drag anchor would have to slow down Federation research on the subject. It's not as if our TOS heroes ever really were that amazed at the existence of the androids they encountered. Sure, Norman's complexity impressed them in "I, Mudd", but they took his actual existence in stride.

Starfleet was fooled by Norman for a brief time, but then again, it was fooled by Klingon infiltrators, too. Doesn't mean the Federation would have been incapable of building machines comparable to Norman. We should probably assume that the Federation was unwilling to build such things instead. Or at least to equip them with artificial intelligence.

And it's not as if they'd have had pleasant experiences with AIs in the TOS era. They have this ban on certain types of genetic manipulation; they could easily have a ban on certain types of AI as well, thus artificially limiting the production of Data-like machines.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[matthunter]

The TNG novel "Immortal Coil" deals somewhat with the fates of the other androids seen on TOS and how that relates to Data (Flint is involved). We also find out a little about what happened to Lore and Lal's remains after TNG.