All salient points. My end of the argument lies squarely with the interaction portion of some services. An app/robot displays a message of “Thanks for your patronage” with all the heart of a trash can on wheels (No offense to R2). A medical scanner stating to a frightened child their ailments and odds of survival. That nonsense vs the relatively few people/androids/non-corporeal beings/etc. who are genuine in their task and appreciative of those around.
The self repairing station/ship idea was brought up in ENT s2e4 “Dead Stop” and never brought up again! While DISCO at least introduced the programmable matter concept, it still lacked the nuance of something that existed before Kirk’s time in the chair. Between that and the absence of the Conspiracy bug’s return, I’ve got the Krogan equivalent of a quad of nerdy sci-fi blue balls.
But again…. How human is the connection at Starbucks? Especially at 5am on your way to work?
Like. If a machine can spit out a Starbucks latte to order and there’s one less person? Hell yes.
In the Voyager episode (where Kim is somehow in an alternate timeline stuck on earth developing some kinda snazzy shuttle), it’s not a social thing. It’s a pop-in-get-coffee-and-go thing
For that level of task, absolutely. Simply suggesting that personable interaction is unlikely to be eliminated in all sectors deemed of lesser import.
In Farscape, EVERYTHING is alive. The universal translators are nanos, iirc you brush your teeth by putting dental worms into your mouth, the little Star Wars like robos underfoot are even sentient, being a mixture of biological and machine, and even the spaceship itself is alive, with new ones borne not built, and grow up over time!
Such a cool concept and show.:-)
irl too, actual scientists and engineers made bacteria that produce human insulin, so we’re seeing not just metal and physics tech (like microwaves and Velcro) but also biotech too, as well as more abstract developments like generative language models. Which makes me wonder whether the sex dolls in the future will need consent? :-P (I’m just trying to work in a reference to Ghost in the Shell for being such an awesome anime:-)
That was quite the journey just to nod Ghost in the Shell. Well done. And Farscape is so bizarre to this day.
