I’m two episodes into The Expanse, a SyFy show about space and pretty people. So far, it’s okay. It uses plenty of sci-fi cliches and tropes, but that’s to be expected. And I’m told it gets better. I’ll stick with it…for now.
Watching the show stirred up a recurring problem that most sci-fi space stories rarely deal with: Why are humans flying spaceships?
In the first episodes of The Expanse, it’s clear that drone technology exists and society as a whole seems far more technologically advanced than our current world. And yet ten minutes into the show there’s a gruff and tough human pilot taking the controls of a spaceship like its some sort of giant helicopter. That doesn’t make sense.
If we are on the cusp of an era of self-driving cars, why are people in the future still flying giant space ships? That’s a computer’s job.
Do the characters in these stories also use an abacus for math and card catalogs for paper books?!
In Star Wars, the droids are intelligent enough to sustain detailed conversations with humans and yet when it’s time for a deadly mission, it’s the humans who put their lives at risk flying spaceships instead of robots smart enough to communicate in billions of languages and disposable enough that they are sold to farmers like old tractors. Plus, even poor kids can make droids! Maybe Porkins would still be alive if the Rebellion sent a droid in his place. RIP Porkins.
Star Trek: The Next Generation, a great show that’s usually pretty smart about future stuff, lets a robot (Data) fly the ship with his actual hands. WHY IS HE USING HIS DAMN HANDS? Can’t he patch into the ship with wires (or WiFi?) making a more secure and fast connection? Hell, why is he even flying the ship in the first place? Data should be leading suicide missions in hostile territories. He should be testing dangerous equipment or defusing nuclear bombs, not hanging out in the bar wondering what laughter is!
I get it. I get that Data is an experimental android and as such he’s meant to experience life as some sort of grand study of the human condition. And he is a rather wonderful character, so I’ll give him a pass. But surely there’s some other computer program that should be flying not only the Enterprise, but also the various cargo shuttles and ships.
Everywhere in the future, humans are flying spaceships and I don’t know why!
Why is Joker flying the Normandy in Mass Effect?
Why are there pilots in Starship Troopers?
Why doesn’t Star Lord have “driver assist technology” on board the Milano in Guardians of the Galaxy?
We are mere years away from disconnecting all steering wheels but according to science fiction, only humans are brave enough to pilot the spaceships.
Some will offer vauge reasons why humans — and only humans — can do the job.
In Interstellar, there’s a throwaway line about AI computers not being able to improvise to solve problems, thus making it necessary to send half a dozen humans on a suicide mission to save humanity. Humans are better than computers? That’s just pro-human propaganda. That’s what the humans want us to think. Hey, maybe a computer won’t know exactly what to do if there’s an icy patch on the moon, but surely it’s better to send super-smart computers into space than super-mortal humans.
The real reason humans keep flying spaceships in sci-fi stories is that it’s cool to fly spaceships. Han Solo is pretty badass when he out maneuvers the TIE Fighters. It wouldn’t have been as heroic if Solo told Chewy, “The AI system can handle this. Now let’s nap our way out of here!”
Less interesting? Yeah. But that would have been more believable. (Yes, I know Star Wars takes place a long time ago, but they DO have sophisticated robots so surely the robots can do the flying.)
As modern, real world technology catches up to, and sometimes eclipses, the technology in sci-fi stories, writers and creators need to make a choice: Either acknowledge that robots, drones, and machines will do all of our dangerous work and exploration in the future, or ignore it and hope some smart ass named Dan Bergstein doesn’t whine about inconsistent, incongruous science in your work.
I still love a good spaceship story with a human pilot, but it’s becoming less and less believable. Maybe I’m just getting cranky.
And don’t even get me started on gravity. HOW CAN THEY WALK AROUND LIKE NORMAL ON FIREFLY!?!??!