{"id":18139,"date":"2019-02-19T01:22:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T17:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/artificial-intelligence-and-a-few-jokes-will-help-keep-future-mars-crews-sane\/"},"modified":"2019-02-19T01:22:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T17:22:25","slug":"artificial-intelligence-and-a-few-jokes-will-help-keep-future-mars-crews-sane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/artificial-intelligence-and-a-few-jokes-will-help-keep-future-mars-crews-sane\/","title":{"rendered":"Artificial intelligence \u2014 and a few jokes \u2014 will help keep future Mars crews sane"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Daedalus
A crew touches down on the Red Planet in \u201cMars,\u201d a National Geographic miniseries that delves into the dynamics of future Mars crews. (Credit: National Geographic Channels)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 When the first human explorers head for Mars, they\u2019re likely to have a non-human judging their performance and tweaking their interpersonal relationships when necessary.<\/p>\n

NASA and outside researchers are already working on artificial intelligence agents to monitor how future long-duration space crews interact, sort of like the holographic doctor on \u201cStar Trek: Voyager.\u201d But there\u2019ll also be a need for the human touch \u2014 in the form of crew members who could serve the roles of social directors or easygoing jokesters.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the upshot of research initiatives discussed over the weekend here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.<\/p>\n

Using AI to assess astronauts\u2019 mental state is the focus of a NASA program known as Human Capabilities Assessments for Autonomous Missions, or H-CAAM, said Tom Williams, a researcher at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center who concentrates on human factors and performance for the space agency\u2019s Human Research Program.<\/p>\n

The aim is to develop an autonomous system that could assist the crew if it noticed that their performance wasn\u2019t up to par.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re hit with radiation \u2026 a system onboard that\u2019s monitoring their performance offers an assist, just like a driver assist on a car, alerting you that, \u2018Hey, your performance on this task is not within the parameter of what we would expect. Do you need assistance?\u2019 \u201d Williams said. \u201cOr do we need to take over if it drops below a certain threshold that the crew member has worked on and selected?\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA psychiatrists currently check in with crew members on the International Space Station during private consultations that take place every couple of weeks, but that kind of real-time, face-to-face check-in will be harder to manage during Mars mission, when delays in two-way communications could add up to as much as 48 minutes. Having an AI system aboard the spaceship could provide more of a real-time backstop.<\/p>\n

The system draws upon research being conducted at Johnson Space Center\u2019s Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA.<\/p>\n

Northwestern University behavioral scientist Noshir Contractor said the HERA findings suggest that the fighter-jock personality celebrated in Tom Wolfe\u2019s classic book about the early space effort, \u201cThe Right Stuff,\u201d would be out of place on the crews that take on a two- to three-year mission to Mars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that \u2018Right Stuff\u2019 still the right stuff for a team that would go to Mars? \u2026 I think we\u2019re pretty confident that it\u2019s not,\u201d Contractor said.<\/p>\n