That Forgotten 1991 Star Trek Episode Nailed Our Modern AI Romance Crisis Before It Existed

(SeaPRwire) –

Last week, I rewatched Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “In Theory” for the first time since high school, and as an AI ethics researcher who’s spent five years studying companion bots, I couldn’t stop thinking about how spot-on it was. Elara Voss, senior fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, put it best when she said the episode didn’t predict AI romance—it predicted our own performativity in these relationships. “Data isn’t a chatbot,” Voss notes, “he’s a mirror for Jenna, who projects her ideal partner onto him just like we do with Replika or Character.AI.”

Aired June 3, 1991, during TNG’s fourth season, the episode was Patrick Stewart’s first directorial gig for the series, following in Jonathan Frakes’ footsteps. Co-writers Ronald D. Moore and Joe Menosky didn’t draw inspiration from AI trends, though—Moore later cited a quirk of Star Trek fandom, specifically the flood of fan mail from women who connected with Spock’s remote, unapproachable vibe, hoping to “touch his heart” in a way no one else had. Data, played by Brent Spiner, fills the Spock role here: well-meaning, earnest, and oddly lovable, even as he’s a fully sentient android. When Lt. Jenna D’Sora pursues him, he agrees to try dating, running a custom program to test if romantic relationships are feasible for his android brain. Unlike today’s cloud-connected chatbots, Data runs all his research locally, no remote servers feeding him social cues or relationship scripts. This isn’t the first time Data has explored romantic connection, either—his brief tryst with Tasha Yar in season 1’s “The Naked Now” ended with her asking him to never speak of it again, a moment that had a far bigger impact on his character arc than this relationship ever did. What makes the episode unique is that the audience’s sympathies are flipped: since Jenna is a guest character who never returns, we frame her as the experiment rather than the grieving partner, viewing Data as the real, authentic person in the dynamic. Even more telling, both parties are faking the connection: Data mimics human romance rather than experiencing it, while Jenna projects her idealized version of Data onto him, changing her own behavior to fit that image.

Right now, the companion AI market is booming, with brands pitching bots as emotional support partners, but most users aren’t looking for genuine AI emotion—they’re looking for a safe space to project their own needs, just like Jenna. The difference, of course, is that Data acts autonomously, while today’s bots only respond to user input, but the core dynamic is identical. We’re still grappling with the ethics of these relationships: are we using the bots, or are we using each other through them? “In Theory” reminds us that the real tragedy isn’t the tech—it’s that both parties in a romantic connection can be faking it, even when they think they’re being genuine. Stewart later said he was thrilled his first directorial gig was a simple love story, and that quiet simplicity is exactly why the episode has aged so well. It’s not a grand sci-fi epic, just a small, thoughtful look at human connection that hits even harder now that we’re living through the era of mainstream AI companions. Unlike the flashy AI romance tropes Hollywood has pushed in recent years, this 35-year-old episode doesn’t lean into spectacle—it leans into the messy, human truth of wanting connection, even when you’re not sure how to find it.

If you want to check it out for yourself, *Star Trek: The Next Generation* streams on Paramount+.