Editing FederalSpace:Technology (section)

=== Minds ===
Artificial intelligence is possible, but intelligence and memory cannot be duplicated or transferred. Say there's some ineffable quality to sapience, or just say that thought is a ''process'' and not a state. Thus, an A.I. has to be birthed and trained over years, is considered a unique (albeit unusual) person, and is bound to a particular brainbox (though the shell could be changed or upgraded). No personality uploads, no xoxing, no "what is real?" mind games. Conventionally-programmed drones can be smart, but not clever or wise; send people if you want attention to detail. We do have neural interfaces, for use by the handicapped, in the experimental stages now, so some sort of passive neural input seems likely—a "hands-free" way to use your computer, in a pinch.  I'm hesitant on the idea of sensory-input, though since memory can't be recorded or duplicated… A good compromise might be that tricks like ecstasy machines or electronic anesthesia are possible, but must be tuned for a particular individual. So no neuronic whips. 

Incidentally, no universal translator. You can have pretty smart translator programs, and linguists have computer analysis to help them, but there are still language barriers. English is one of a small number of ''lingua franca.''

Just because the mind can't be duplicated doesn't mean it can't be ''analyzed.'' Psychology would be more advanced and effective, thanks to good brain scans and analysis tools, and presumably there's some understanding of memetics. I don't know how powerful I want this to be, because I feel that free will is important for to the Trek setting, and having other people mess with your thinking twists that. On the other hand, one must keep in mind the importance of the bell curve and edge cases—you may have used memetics to construct a peaceful utopian society, but that 10% of the population who are assholes will still be assholes… 

And does that mean we have a functioning lie detector?