[Vecr]

> irrelevant social dilemmas

Some of them, others not so much. In the original series there was an episode on computerized warfare and efficiency (Season 1 Episode 23 A Taste of Armageddon). In the later series "The Next Generation" there was an episode on AI and rights (Season 2 Episode 9 The Measure of a Man).

Both still get cited in actual work, probably because it's easier to direct someone to watch a reasonably short and entertaining TV episode than some 300 page book on the subject.

[jemmyw]

The Measure of a Man is one of those episodes that drives me nuts. I re watched that season recently. The debate about artificial life is an important one but the framing is terrible: Data already being so far beyond the argument. Sure, someone might want to dismantle him but the idea that a court case would need to weigh it up for more than 30 seconds is preposterous. And the idea of the bridge crew accepting that Data would be dismantled if the court case succeeds rather than starting with the position of "if you go near our friend we'll shoot you with guns" to make it clear it would be a pr disaster for the federation.