The rapid advance of AI/Robotics and Star Trek

[Disposable_Ensign]

This is a major problem.

What are the exact requirements to do this? Because I have been thinking recently of the problem of A. I...

I think that have a solution.

Back in the ancient days of the 1950s, an artist would record their piece of music twice. Each time it would be a little different. By overwriting the recording, the 'errors' coul be masked. Hence High Feldelity records.

Such that with an A. I., instead of looking at the individual bits, one looks at the overall "image".

Operationally what would result is a combined response, with no issues.

Modern Mainframe computers solve the program twice, then subtract the second from the first. If the answer is not zero, then an error has occurred...

Which means 'try again'.

I am not talking bit errors, but solution errors. Where Kirk onboard the ISS Enterprise asked the question, the computer came up with a workable solution. With the supplies on hand. So, instead of being told a story that isn't workable, the onboard computer told a correct story. Instead of a hallucinating the answer.

This is the only way that people have been able to squeeze any research value out of LLMs (for the "AI solves hard scary math" headlines recently). They basically keep going (for all practical purposes, randomly) until its solution can be formally verified in something like Lean.

Does this include the ability of a ship’s computer to autonomously cook up a theory of how to safely beam people into an alternate universe (TOS: “Mirror, Mirror”)?

We don't know the state of the art; this could have been a small leap of simply searching theoretical physics publications.

 

[Tim Walker]

Love the Dots from DISCO and SNW. Would love to see Star Wars style droids in Trek. Would also like to see more literal sentient computers like Zora or Zen from Blake's 7.

The dot robots have been described as glorified Roomba. If one were to re-imagine Star Trek (in a manner similar to NuBSG) it would be conceptually easy to include such 'droids/cylons/robots.

 

[XCV330]

I would imagine just due to the problem of AI and swarm intelligence in Star Trek that there would be real attempts to avoid feature creep in their automatons and computer systems. So TOS Enterprise's ship's computer is competent at its job of running a starship with human's help but is shitty to have a conversation with. Controls are mostly discreet and even by TNG the OS GUI is totally tailored to the job at hand, whatever that job is.

I would imagine DOT bots to have, Short Trek notwithstanding, as much computational power and AI power as they need and no more.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

there are probley some alternate earths in the multiverse where androids aka robots are common in the everyday lives around earth like in the sci fi tv shows and movies like i robot star wars and star trek

 

[Weyoun 251]

Folk have accused me of being an "AI", on account of me possessing a halfway-decent grasp of the English language (which includes punctuation and capitalization, in addition to grammar).

Mate I had that recently in a group chat! Was talking about Yorkshire Puddings (as you do) and they took my writing style to be AI

 

[knightgrace]

Typical.
This was spotted a couple of decades ago. That some people are so intelligent that their 'natural' intelligence overwhelmed their expectations...


This leads to a real world problem - ignorance.

Which as you well know is a major problem.

From a different direction: there are senior high school students that can't write their own name.

NOT A JOKE.

 

[Tim Walker]

The astonishing and rapid rise of AI is transforming many professions. It now appears likely that something like Data might exist in our lifetimes, not the 24th Century. AI and robots will likely be ubiquitous in society in a manner more like the Star Wars Universe than in Trek. Should Trek be retconned to this emerging tech, or are we saying that something happens to derail it.

With Transhumanism, involving another set of potentially revolutionary technologies, it was banned. Superhumans like Khan were created, but they tried to seize power and the bloody war that followed ultimately led to the apparent banning of most Transhumanist research ideas. Is something like that at work with AI, in order to preserve a recognizable Trek, or should it change with the times?

The Federation seems to have had a preference for androids. But after the Synth attack, I would expect a political back lash against such.

I recall a term I came across-"tin can robots." A general category, a diversity of designs-from the tank like robot in The First Spaceship on Venus, Robbie from Forbidden Planet, the robots of Lost in Space, the "drones" of Silent Running, and the "Skutters" of Red Dwarf. One thing these have in common is that none could be mistaken for human, not even remotely. They are obviously machines.

There is a third category-robots that resemble animals. Such as the dog robot in Red Planet, and the squid like "Sentinels" in The Matrix.

Perhaps the Federation would give up on androids. Perhaps use a tin can robot (restricted in intelligence) that could aid-but not challenge-the flesh and blood crew of a ship.

 

[Mudd]

You can't change Trek enough to make it relevant and plausible now without tearing it down to the basic premise and rebuilding it.

 

[Ragitsu]

"Tear down dem statues."

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

You can't change Trek enough to make it relevant and plausible now without tearing it down to the basic premise and rebuilding it.

True enough. I'm subjecting all TOS episodes to a revolutionary new ''de-Kirkification'' process. If it succeeds with others as it should with me, perhaps a 6-minute TV commercial may follow.

Spock, Scotty and Uhura, however, won't be going away. It was rather sweet to see Spock and Uhura without JTK in many SNW episodes while it lasted.

 

[Tim Walker]

Robots in Trek? Not Star Wars 'droids. Exocomps.

 

[Frontis]

Star Trek gave even Data personality, in real life AI doesn't have personality, that's the difference.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

Star Trek gave even Data personality, in real life AI doesn't have personality, that's the difference.

well at least not yet in real life does ai have personalities

 

[Mudd]

Star Trek gave even Data personality, in real life AI doesn't have personality, that's the difference.

AI has multiple personalities. Hardly fair, as some people struggle to develop even one.