More Than an Android

by Sabian Jackson

Today I watched the Star Trek episode "The Measure of a Man" and thought it was a very interesting approach towards discussing what it means to be human. The initial scene where Data loses a game of poker because of his lack of understanding of why someone would not fold if they do not have a good hand gives the viewer insight into what it means to be human. Throughout this episode, Data and his fellow comrades must fight against the philosophical question of what it means to be human and whether a machine like Data could possibly fall under this classification. What I enjoyed most about this episode is how much it relates to what our near future could entail. With the quick advancements of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are going to have to face a similar situation as shown in this episode.

I thought watching this episode of Star Trek complemented nicely with the three episodes of Westworld we were assigned to watch. The first and biggest question that needs to be asked in both of these scenarios is how humans are these machines. The Star Trek episode showed there is not a simple answer to this question. This question is rather complex and decisions made around this question should not be hurried. As a first time viewer of Star Trek and Westworld, I instantly empathized with the androids despite knowing they were not real and were machines. During our last lecture Professor Donig asked us who we felt more empathic towards in Westworld. I voted towards the hosts because of their sense of autonomy. Towards the end of the third episode in Westworld, we learned the hosts were beginning to remember past experiences and developing unscripted emotions towards these memories. The hosts were becoming more like Data. I felt more empathetic towards the hosts because the distraught brought upon the guests was because of their own doing whereas the hosts were not entirely free to self govern themselves.

After the conversation between Captain Picard and Guinan, it became clearer why Data should not be considered property and simple a machine. I knew from the start the Data should have the freedom of choice to partake in the experiment but I was not sure as to why I felt this way. I could not explain why I saw Data beyond being an android until I heard this conversation. They were able to predict how they would look back on the decision made that day and consider what the implications of their decision would be for Data and all future androids to come. It was satisfying to see Commander Maddox change his view towards Data and provided hope for us. I think we will eventually face similar situations as we have seen in Westworld and Star Trek and hopefully, we can learn from science fiction and our own past make decisions that are in the best interest of all.