VOY s4e7 “Scientific Method”
This is the star trek future, the art subroutines are limited to prevent automatic “art” creation.

disclaimer: not my meme
Reminds me of TNG s3e14 with Data being judgemental of Picard’s painting.

He could have downloaded a new art program. But it was more rewarding to learn how to paint the old fashioned way, learning through his regular learning algorithms like a human would.
Fun way to look at it, unlike cheating his way to operatic singing.

Well obviously learning to draw is more rewarding than learning to sing. I’m not biased or anything, why’d you ask?
Picardo, he is.
You got here first
I feel like all the subroutines he adds are just giving his program the ability to try these things out. He is limited by his programming, but at the same time the computers in Star Trek can learn things in a more real way than current LLM type AI. So he gave himself permission to draw, but he still has to learn how to do it.
The only thing I can think of that he was immediately good at without much practice was singing. And even then, he could not reach the levels that one alien race reached once he taught them.
Those twerps were stretching the program well beyond the ability of most, if not all, humanoids.
For the sake of writing, I just love that it created an excuse for Robert Picardo to show off his skillset.
The writers of Voyager were great for working in a parody of an opera song about Tuvok having Pon Faar in the episode where the Doc starts dreaming.
A favorite of mine.


He just needed the right muse. He did pretty well in his dream! Janeway even complimented the hands (conveniently not shown on screen)


In the nightmare version, Neelix ends up sending the dinner invitation and asking the doctor to “draw me like one of your borg girls”.

“Crude, but accurate.”
Those were supposed to be a surgeon’s hands. He’s sketching more like a butcher.
(Jk Way better than my skill level)
Couldn’t do better, myself, but I think I’ve got a few points above Boimler.

What a role model







