Artificial intelligence -- and a few jokes -- will help keep future Mars crews sane

When the first human explorers head for Mars, they're likely to have a non-human judging their performance and tweaking their interpersonal relationships when necessary. 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 "Star Trek: Voyager." But there'll also be a need for the human touch -- in the form of crew members who could serve the roles of social directors or easygoing jokesters. That's the upshot of research initiatives discussed over the weekend here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Using AI to assess astronauts' 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's Johnson Space Center who concentrates on human factors and performance for the space agency's Human Research Program.