Re: RE: starship-design: unmanned missions

[Steve VanDevender <stevev@efn.org>]

KellySt@aol.com writes:
 > In a message dated 2/12/98 8:47:53 PM, lparker@cacaphony.net wrote:
 > >So to put the discussion of AIs into a politically correct framework, how
 > >can AI technology best benefit a _manned_ starship?
 > >
 > >Lee
 > 
 > How could it not help!  An A.I. would be about the most
 > usefull tool since the knife!

If an AI could control the ship well enough to reduce the amount
of human work needed to operate the starship's basic systems,
thereby reducing the number of human crew and the required life
support equipment and supplies, it would be well worth it.

An effective AI could also operate a slow interstellar ship that
travels at low or sub-relativistic speeds, such that the travel
time would be longer than a human lifetime, where the human crew
would spend most of their travel time in suspended animation.