The general lack of robots in ST

[Deimos Anomaly]

What gives here? Most Sci-Fi seems to have a bunch of androids and such like going around doing various things.

Trek had two or three one-off Soongs and nothing much else.

The UFP really should have some synths, droids or whatever you wanna call them around for janitorial and basic maintenance stuff at the least.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

I honestly don't much see the point in having robots in Trek just because "most SF" has them. Trek hasn't had them in great numbers and I've never felt it needed them.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

To be fair, TOS was loaded with robots and androids.

 

[Nebusj]

What gives here? Most Sci-Fi seems to have a bunch of androids and such like going around doing various things.

What can a droid do that the ship's built-in force fields, transporters, synthesizers, and replicators don't do as well, and without requiring available space to be eaten up by these lumbering piles of parts?

 

[C.E. Evans]

Robots really aren't necessary in Trek because you have all these ultra-sophisticated computers, industrial and food replicators, etc., that can give you almost anything you want at the push of a button or even with voice command.

If people have become so lazy they can't walk a few feet to the replicator panel then Humanity is doomed...

Besides, I think the Federation is at odds with the idea of creating a slave race and thanks to Data, there is much debate on whether machines capable of independent thought and self-awareness can be considered "alive." In a galactic government where life comes in a wide variety of forms, including inorganic ones, advanced robots might truly fall under the category of being sentient beings in their own right.

I think it would be different if robots were more like the ones we have today working in assembly plants who simply follow programmed instructions and don't have artificial intelligence...

 

[GeorgeKirk]

The UFP really should have some synths, droids or whatever you wanna call them around for janitorial and basic maintenance stuff at the least.

I agree. In TWOK, we saw a person vacuuming the floor outside the simulator room at the Academy. It's the 23rd century and they don't have Roombas? What's up with that?

It could be argued that the probes the Enterprise-D carried were robots of a sort, we never just got an up-close look at them. Generally speaking in the TNG era, every time someone created a robotic device it always evolved intelligence and inspired a preachy Picardian lecture on the rights of sentient lifeforms. One exception to this was the Voyager episode that showed Bob Picardo Model EMH's being used for grunt work, but that was just a stupid idea that really typifies the poorly-thought out, lazy writing that characterized that show.

 

[Deks]

Hm ... robots ... non sentient perhaps doing various maintenance on systems, but even that is questionable since most of SF technology is self-automated and has the ability to repair itself ... not to mention that nano technology (non-sentient) can be used to augment such tasks.
Resource extraction techniques I simply fail to envision done manually as portrayed in the 24th century ... like holograms in the dilithium refinery facility.
Computers and machinery with robotic extensions would do the trick nicely ... and the Feds certainly have the tech to do it ... I merely attribute certain manual labor as resource extraction (unless it's a desired profession) as writers lazyness.

At the rate they are going though, 90% of SF tech will become sentient and they won't be able to use it because of their desire for non-exploitation.
Honestly ... the Borgs nanoprobes are nanite based tech and it's hardly sentient (at least to our knowledge) ... why is it so hard to develop technology without it gaining sentience and thus preventing it's use in the future ?

Ah yes ... drama

 

[Kemaiku]

Non sentient, not so Humanoid shaped droids would be of great use in hazardous areas and situations.

Plasma coolant leaking? send in a droid coated with a surface resistant to it to seal the leak or get to the controls and shut down the system.

Hull breach and venting atmosphere? send in a droid lightly magnetically anchored (or Duranium fibre cable similar to steel cable now anchored to the wall slot it fits into) to activate a forcefield or bulkhead, help Humans who are incapacitated from lack of air, generally remove debris and burning objects blocking the passageway, clearing a safe path.

MALP style drones capable of levitation beamed down to survey an area prior to beaming down, direct visual/audio reconnaissance and close range scans.

Or if your ship gets a little constipated come the time for ejecting the Warp core, blow the external hatch, get a few free floating drones to attach to the bottom of it and drag the core out.

Droids working the shuttlebay and cargo bay consoles so that the bay can be devoid of atmosphere should you not be able to use the forcefield for some reason. Never did understand why those bays didn't have a booth that had its own atmosphere anyway.

 

[M'Sharak]

What gives here? Most Sci-Fi seems to have a bunch of androids and such like going around doing various things.

Trek had two or three one-off Soongs and nothing much else.

The UFP really should have some synths, droids or whatever you wanna call them around for janitorial and basic maintenance stuff at the least.

There were plenty in Trek.

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" was about androids and "I, Mudd" was full of them. TNG had exocomps and a whole episode about a holographic weapons-dealer and his robot-weapon toys and there were other non-humanoid systems everywhere. Voyager even had robot-weapon Villains of the Week in "Dreadnought" and "Warhead" and Polite Killer Androids in "Prototype." Engineered viruses showed up more than once, and there were nanites and nanoprobes.

Lots of robots, Will Robinson.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

To be fair, TOS was loaded with robots and androids.

And a great many of them got their circuts shorted by Captain James T. Kirk and his deadly logic bombs!

 

[M'Sharak]

To be fair, TOS was loaded with robots and androids.

And a great many of them got their circuts shorted by Captain James T. Kirk and his deadly logic bombs!

The man was a menace!

 

[HRHTheKING]

Yep.

We should see robots in Trek.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If the Federation is leery of genetic engineering because of the moral implications, then artificial intelligence is really going to freak them out. Maybe there's been an effort to keep robotics definitely non-human and non-self-aware. There could be robots everywhere, but not in human form. For instance: miniaturized robots to keep everything clean, which rove around in swarms. They might not even be visible.

How intelligent holograms factor into this, I dunno. Maybe the Federation is more comfortable with the idea of holo-life and has decided to treat them as equals with solid humanoids. Maybe this is a cultural thing: people associate Data-type androids with machines and therefore slaves, and that's icky. But holosuites and holoprograms have been accepted as a sort of alternate reality, and are associated with entertainment and education rather than grunt work, so if beings are developed based on holographic technology, they seem more equivalent to species that evolve on alien planets - different but equal.

 

[Unicron]

I disagree. How does robotic sentience create moral issues? It would only do so if the robotic race were clearly acting in a manner that could be considered amoral (i.e. if they considered organic beings inferior and wanted to kill us), but I see no reason for the Feds to assume a robotic race would act this way. The presence of an android like Data, who has proven to be sentient and capable of integrating into normal society, should reinforce the notion of open mindedness.

I guess all I'm saying is, eugenics has moral implications because it can amount to playing God. Creating an artificial being can also share some of those implications, but it's not a given. Anymore than giving birth has moral implications because the baby might grow up to be an evil person.

 

[The Wormhole]

Most science fiction with robots usually involves robots launching a revolt against their human masters. So maybe the Federation has looked at Terminator, The Matrix, BSG, what have you as cautionary tales and have decided not to develop AI. Except for Dr. Soong, but he was considered a radical anyway.

 

[hellsgate]

Well, for the purposes of either fan fiction, television, or future motion pictures, in the post-Nem (DS9 & TNG) era, I'd be okay with seeing inorganic, energy-based, and / or miniscule-sized beings (that may or may not be able to properly function under Terran gravity or atmospheric conditions, or may pose some kind of risk to others in their natural form) such as the Medusans from TOS using Soong-type interactive non-A.I.-capable "body suits" for diplomatic interaction. The kind of body suits seen in "Men In Black".

Plus, with the mixed feelings fans have expressed about the addition of B4, the loss of Data in "S.T.: Nemesis", the Borg, the Praylor, etc. having already been introduced, I feel its inappropriate at this time to bring in self-determined, sentient humanoid-fashion "robotic" life-forms above the development level of "Roombas", as they'd be perceived as a threat/liability to the integrity of the Alpha & Beta Quadrants.

They might be welcome in an alternate universe story or perhaps in a Temporal Cold War cameo appearance in the ENT-era of the 2250's.

We're already trying to digest the idea of the holographic doctor & the Voyager novels covering the brief photonic revolution upon the holo-doc's novel going mainstream back on Earth.

Plus, I'd be antsy as hell about any micro-bots attached to a warp core during an ejection, as all you'd need to do is order Ensign Ricky into an E.V.A. suit & shove their butt up the ejection shaft, get him/her to bear-hug the core, hit their manuevering jets to get the core clear of the mothership. Or slap some tricorder-controlled thruster packs on a core while Ensign Ricky's using a crowbar to pry open a partially-melted external hatch, & away you go. One big quantum torpedo with a redshirt flailing through space behind it for good measure.

M.A.L.P. drones? Umm. No. Long-range & short range starship & shuttle/runabout sensors, ship/shuttle-launched probes, EVA suit sensors, transporter guidance systems, etc. virtually eliminate any need for such devices.

Just my $0.02

Thank You For Your Time, Ladies & Gentlemen.