Editing The Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager) (section)

==Emergency Medical Hologram==

The EMH is a holographic computer program designed to treat patients during emergency situations, or when the regular medical staff is unavailable or incapacitated. EMHs are a standard feature onboard all [[Starfleet]] ships, but they are there only to supplement the living medical crew during emergencies, not replace it. Programmed with all current Starfleet medical knowledge, The Doctor and all Mark I programs are equipped with the knowledge and mannerisms of historic Federation doctors, as well as the physical appearance of their programmer Dr. Lewis Zimmerman. The EMH can retain an enhanced personality over time if utilized frequently.<ref name="Grech-2020"/>

Mariella Scerri and Victor Grech have proposed that the EMH is "an examplar of [[Philosophy of artificial intelligence#Can a machine have a mind, consciousness, and mental states?|strong AI]]" (a [[Philosophical theory|philosophical position]] on artificial intelligence according to which "computational states are functionally equivalent to mental states"<ref name="Scerri-2000">{{cite journal |last1=Scerri |first1=Mariella |last2=Grech |first2=Victor |title=Artificial intelligence in medicine |journal=Early Human Development |date=June 2020 |volume=145 |pages=105017 |doi=10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2020.105017 |pmid=32201033 }}{{Expression of Concern|doi=10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2021.105328|http://retractionwatch.com/2021/03/31/beam-us-up-elsevier-pulls-26-covid-19-papers-by- researcher-with-a-penchant-for-star-trek/ ''Retraction Watch''|http://retractionwatch.com/2020/12/10/elsevier-looking-into-very-serious-concerns-after- student-calls-out-journal-for-fleet-of-star-trek-articles-other-issues/ ''Retraction Watch''}}</ref>).<ref name="Scerri-2016">{{cite magazine |last1=Scerri |first1=Mariella |last2=Grech |first2=Victor |name-list-style=amp |date=July 2016 |title=Artificial Intelligence in Medicine |magazine=[[The New York Review of Science Fiction]] |volume=28 |issue=11#335 |pages=22–29 |publisher=Burrowing Wombat Press |issn=1052-9438}}</ref> Another author observed that consequent to the EMH's portrayal in ''Voyager'', "sentient computer programs embodied in a computer-generated hologram became a commonplace idea – even a convention – in subsequent fiction".<ref name="Johnston-2015">{{cite book |last=Johnston |first=Sean F. |date=2015 |title=Holograms: A Cultural History |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-871276-3 |page=96}}</ref>