Artificial intelligence, thinking machines, includes everything from the basic AI of Federation starship computer cores to sentient self-aware machines. The most notable of these are the android Data and the ubiquitous droids of the Empire. While self-aware machines are still rare in the Alpha Quadrant, the number is quickly rising thanks to the introduction of intelligent holographic programs such as the EMH, which have the potential to expand beyond their programming. In the Empire, self-aware droids are mass-produced and used in fields from interstellar diplomacy and translation to starship navigation. These droids are capable of learning, and can even develop personality quirks if their memory banks are not periodically erased.