Astronauts’ mental health will be put to the test on long space missions. Could companion AIs be useful?
`In honour of the 66th anniversary of the space age, Space.com is examining the state of artificial intelligence (AI) today and how it is affecting astronomy and space research during World Space Week 2023 John Loeffler describes how AI companions could support astronauts’ mental health during long-duration space missions in this article.
The four Endurance astronauts are launching on the movie’s mission to save humanity in one of the more jovial scenes of Christopher Nolan’s generally tense film “Interstellar,” which is otherwise full of anxiety. A witty AI named TARS is travelling with them and makes jokes about how excited it is to use them all as servants on its robot colony. TARS also wishes Matthew McConaughey’s character luck returning to the ship after blowing him out the airlock for speaking back.
When Cooper (McConaughey) of 634-257 asks TARS what its humour level is set to, the AI immediately responds with an instruction to dial it back a little after being informed that TARS has been designed with a humour algorithm for the benefit of the humans on board.
Like a lot of “Interstellar,” Nolan spent a lot of time imagining the future of deep space exploration, and AI companions for human astronauts are just as crucial to that vision as Gargantua, the movie’s spectacular black hole set piece, and even end up playing significant roles as characters in their own right.
Back on Earth, artificial intelligence is being considered as a crucial component of future space missions like the planned Artemis moon missions and eventually the first crewed flights to Mars by NASA, the European Space Agency, and a wide range of private space businesses. But as people travel farther into space, these AI systems might serve as more than just tools to assist with operational duties; they might also offer crucial emotional and mental health assistance for crew members dealing with some of the most extreme forms of social isolation ever encountered by humans.
