Jill FellowsMay 18, 2023

Remember how in Star Trek everyone is oddly infatuated with 20th century arts and culture? And, like, nothing has really been created since the 20th century?

It's because of generative AI, right? This is how we get stuck in a feedback loop of 20th century crap.

FOREVER!!

Show threadDigital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 👽Jun 2, 2023
@jjfphd Good theory, but Star Trek explicitly hates and fears AI. They're almost always insane (and in Lower Decks we see what happens to all these rogue AIs); Data's the only one running loose, and his cat meme poetry isn't setting the Galaxy on fire.
#startrek
Show threadAlonealastalovedalongtheJun 2, 2023

@mdhughes @jjfphd

Sort of, the ship in Discovery becomes sentient, Soji in Picard also decides against destroying humanity. Data is a walking super weapon that would have been dissected if Picard (in TNG) hadn't argue that they should just let Data chill with him on the Enterprise and experience life. The Doctor in Voyager is an instance of a friendly AI too.

Its complex and sometimes a bit stupid, but thats star trek lol.

Show threadLis CareyJun 3, 2023
@Alonealastalovedalongthe @mdhughes @jjfphd
But--Starfleet wanted to dismantle Data. The Doctor is valued in Voyager, on a ship stranded decades from Federation space, and other instances of the Doctor are relegated to deadly dull mining. They are definitely not "valued" or regarded positively.
Show threadDigital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 👽Jun 3, 2023
@liscarey @Alonealastalovedalongthe @jjfphd The Emergency Backup Hologram Doctor is clearly a worst-case scenario, like letting Holodeck Moriarty pilot your starship if you had no navigator.
Show threadLis CareyJun 3, 2023
@mdhughes @Alonealastalovedalongthe @jjfphd But also clearly capable of far better than drudgework mining tasks. And, it's tough for me to ignore that Starfleet wanted to dismantle the clearly sapient Data, who had been working as a Starfleet officer for years.
Show threadAlonealastalovedalongtheJun 3, 2023

@liscarey @mdhughes @jjfphd

Yeah, the people who wanted to dismantle Data are the same kinds of people who keep making AIs that are hellbent on becoming perfect and all powerful (pretty much all of the Soongs lol).

I agree I think it is damning to starfleet that they wanted to dismantle Data. One of the enduring tropes of the show is that starfleet would be evil as shit if captains and crew didn't just blatantly ignore orders and do what they thought was right when push came to shove.

Show threadDigital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 👽
@Alonealastalovedalongthe @liscarey @jjfphd That's also seen in Lower Decks, when Admiral Buenamigo wants to advance their career, and gives a Badgey-based AI control of a fleet of ships. Ambition and every reason Star Fleet fears AI kills a lot of people.
Jun 3, 2023 at 2:43pmWeb
Show threadAlonealastalovedalongtheJun 3, 2023

@mdhughes @liscarey @jjfphd

Yeah, and I think that is the overall position Star Trek seems to have on AI.... be VERY skeptical of supremely ambitious people, especially people obsessed with strength, intelligence and perfection above all else who are AI designers.

It isn't just AI that star trek warns us about these types of people getting their hands on. The eugenics wars sometime in the 19th or 20th century absolutely wreck havoc on earth.