There’s the episode where he takes over the ship (hardcoded command from Dr. Soong) which really highlights how powerful he is.
And the episode Elementary My Dear Data where the ship created a completely self-aware program in the holodeck that started to take the ship over just because Geordi accidentally asked for an opponent that could challenge Data, not Sherlock Holmes.
Data really could have wrecked everybody’s shit if he had actually wanted to.
Oh my god that episode. And then they create the program for the villain to live in indefinitely and all of that, I kind of loved how that storyline played out.
Moriarty I think they saved–wasn’t it a different episode where they “beamed” the villains into another VR?
I think it’s time for a 4th TNG rewatch
Also the episode when Lt Brocolli gets super smart and takes over the ship computer using the holideck.
I don’t see how star fleet allowed Data to remain onboard after that one. Being in the tech industry I often feel the Federation’s infosec is lacking in often trivial ways (unless the episode calls for better security of course 🙂), but maybe they have just accepted that sort of thing as the cost of doing space business since it happens all the time. So Data’s benefits out weigh his risk.
If all the TV shows are in the same universe, I wonder how they allowed Data to join at all after the debacle that was Control.
But that was super double secret, so nobody can ever know or talk about it. Hence why they didn’t question a whole slave race of androids
I can’t recall if this episode was before or after they had a trial to determine whether Data was new life. It seems like accepting he is too much of a security risk would suggest that he is more machine than intelligent life. Perhaps those things aren’t mutually exclusive though. A human could be compromised in various ways as well, but not completely against their will.
Measure of a Man was pretty early, season 2 maybe? Pretty sure it was before this one. In any case, yeah I had the same thought. How many times has an organic person been taken over and done something terrible? Picard was a Borg, those weird worm things that infiltrated star trek, those ghosts that take over Troi, O’Brian and Data (again!), etc. Lower Decks has an episode where Merriner thinks Boimler’s girlfriend is too hot for him and spends the entire show trying to figure out what kind of creature she is or alien influence she is under. So yeah, common star trek trope.
Presumably cooler Star Fleet heads prevailed and realized this situation with Data was no different so he isn’t inherently any more risky than any other sentient being.
That episode is honestly kind of terrifying after you’ve got used to Data being basically just a lovable dork.
Just look at Lore. He wiped out a colony, and could do far worse damage if he was both more competent and stable. It eventually escalated to the point where Data had to shut him down, due to the danger he posed to the rest of the Federation.
How did lore destroy the colony?
Technically Lore didn’t do it himself, he summoned the crystalline entity which killed everyone.
I think if he instigated the event he can take credit for it.
True - it might be argued that he’s not responsible if he didn’t know exactly what the crystalline entity would do, but it’s pretty obvious that he had a good idea what would happen, so yeah, he’s the key causal factor.
Yes this is correct!
He summoned the crystalline entity through unknown means, which came and turned the colonists into sand.
I thought picard was crazy for questioning data in his quarters alone in clues. Especially after they confirmed something was wrong with him by catching him in a lie.
Data is the Pitt Bull of the Enterprise. When he’s protecting the crew he’s amazing, but watch out if he snaps.
Computer, establish a security code for access to all functions previously transferred to bridge.
1734-6732-1476 Charlie 3278-9777-643 Tango 732 Victor 731 1788-8732-47 6789-7643-76.
Lock.
Weak-ass password doesn’t even contain special characters. Also, oddly limited to Earth Arabic numerals in a universe with hundreds of sentient alien species.
I may be missing the sarcasm, but including dashes and spaces, it’s 83 characters longs. It’s effectively unbreakable.
That depends on the system and whether it immediately responds to the challenge with a failure or locks out after a number of incorrect responses.
If LCARS is programmed to just immediately respond that the password is wrong then the real password could probably be brute force guessed in a matter of seconds given the computers in the 24th century…
Given the computers of the 24th century sure, but with modern computers…
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I heard that in Milton’s voice from Office Space.
I heard Ralph Wiggum for some reason.
The problem is that the Federation is extremely conservative about the use of AI and human enhancement, so once you drop in someone like Data and allow him equal rights, there’s a wild power mismatch. So he can wreck havoc if he goes rogue.
Data would never be able to pull off the shenanigans he did on Brothers against a Culture craft. Even if he’s not going up against a Mind but “only” the humanoid crew, he wouldn’t have such a crazy advantage.
Lore was always more fun.
My favorite Lore moments:
- [pretending to be Data] Often Wrong’s got a broken heart - Can’t even tell his boys apart.
- Back off, or I’ll turn your little man into a torch. I promise him exquisite pain unless you obey me too, brother."
Lore was always more fun.
This is why, despite Picard’s moral objections to having pets, he doesn’t dare broach the subject of Spot with Data.
