Where do you see Artificial Intelligence going? Will it be Data, The Doctor or something new? Do we need to fear it, embrace it or something in between?
At the end of Mark Teerlink’s showcase he doesn’t imply we should throw all of the weight of work on the AI, but instead share our burden with it in the form of the repetitive, tiring, aspects that Artificial Intelligence can handle more fluidly than human intelligence. The phrasing and sentiment give the idea of an equal partnership between us and machines.
As far as what those “machines” will be in the future, if it came between Data and The Doctor – it would be Data. We have our AI bots on things like Discord or Twitter, but we have that alongside the physical creation of robotic bodies. Taking those internet bots and putting them into less physically engaging frames, such as holograms, would lose a certain human tactility that I think we will be clinging to for as long as possible.
Our relationship with Artificial Intelligence currently falls between the realm of fear and love. and it should respectful stay there but leaning towards positive, optimistic light. Even if the way there will start off inevitable bleak and dominating, as we simultaneously create new jobs with this advancement in technology, but also squeeze people out of them.
Humans have shown time and time again that we can be cruel to each other in the worst ways: such as slavery. This metaphor is even brought explicitly into the text by Picard, when he is chosen to defend Data’s rights.
The episode (“The Measure of a Man, Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 2, episode 9) raises these questions: does Data have true autonomy? Or is he indeed simply Starfleet property that has been allowed the illusion of choice? What’s signifigant to the heart of this matter is that it is Whoopi Goldberg’s character, Guinan, who reminds Picard about history’s “disposable creatures”.
It’s also said humans are scared the unknown, and that’s where we fall a little more into the fearful side of our relationship to Artificial Intelligence. Aspects of these interfaces are familiar, and we try to humanize them in ways by teaching them our language and try to make them capable of passing for human. But ultimately, they are not the same as us and their limitless abilities only continue to develop the more we teach them. If human children are meant to be better than their parents, what does that mean for our creation and expectations of Artificial Intelligence?
But that’s why humanizing the concept and embracing the good they can do for us as partners will ultimately be what save us from the often hypothesized “AI gone wrong” stories. We do talk to our GPSs, but we do it like we would be talking to our human passenger drive: annoyance if we miss our turn, talking to them to pass the time, and whatever else people engage in. We even try to make them as unique as we can – give them personality and distinguishable traits through various voices and accents.
Pigging backing off of Starlog Three, Data is one of my top three favorite characters and I look forward to the day I may actually have such a kind of friend as him.
Klaw's Lair 