# AI Will Let Robotic Geologists Replace Astronauts by Martin Rees > “At the moment, if we send a probe to Mars, it’s not able to decide where to dig or where there’s an interesting sample. But in 10 or 20 years, the kind of AI that allows machines to look at 100,000 X-rays of your lungs and decide better than a human whether you’ve got lung cancer—that sort of technology will enable the AI to do the geology. You don’t need the people for that.” > **— Martin Rees**, *Should Robots Take Astronauts’ Place In Space Exploration?, Science Friday, 2022* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and full context:** [Should Robots Take Astronauts’ Place In Space Exploration?](https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/robots-astronauts-space-exploration/) — The linked publication contains the quoted passage and its surrounding argument. - **Shorter source formulation:** [The end of astronauts?](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/scienceshow/the-end-of-astronauts/13820788) — Rees separately predicts that robots will soon perform work that presently requires a geologist. The master dossier routes that shorter statement to this more complete account of the mechanism. - **Master research record:** [[research/Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future|Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future]] — preserves this object inside the open Martin Rees source dossier. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/MARS|MARS]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] - **Article:** [[articles/Breakaway Space Habitat Infrastructure?|Breakaway Space Habitat Infrastructure?]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Are "Going" to Mars through the Marsification of Earth|We Are Going to Mars through the Marsification of Earth]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Space Exploration|Space Exploration]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Robotic Spaceflight|Robotic Spaceflight]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “At the moment, if we send a probe to Mars, it’s not able to decide where to dig or where there’s an interesting sample. But in 10 or 20 years, the kind of AI that allows machines to look at 100,000 X-rays of your lungs and decide better than a human whether you’ve got lung cancer—that sort of technology will enable the AI to do the geology. You don’t need the people for that.” — Martin Rees, Should Robots Take Astronauts’ Place In Space Exploration?, Science Friday, 2022 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-martin-rees-ai-let-robotic-geologists-replace ```