system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[ST:TNG & ST:V] The Emergency Medical Holographic Program common on Interpid-class starships seems even more human than the remarkable androids built by Dr. Noonien Soong such as Data and Lore, yet seem to not build upon any of the late genius' research. How did the EMH get so advanced?
gpt
The EMH, and most interactive holograms, are extremely advanced chatbots at their most basic core. They begin "life" as a set of very familiar (to 24th century technicians) code that adapts to user input and gives appropriate output. Doctor Zimmerman was a genius among his field because he could work wonders with that interactivity, and even give a "personality" to his creations. Of course, with a raging ego like his, he gave his first EMH programs his personality. So they're copies of basic information that have limited functionality. Granted, those limitations are almost unimaginable to us mere 21st century people, but they *are* limited. Voyager's Doctor is a special case of a heavily modified hologram left running for years on end, and allowed to self-modify. He uses a significant amount of computing power to remain functional and depends entirely on the ship/mobile emitter being functional to "stay alive". He does, however, prove once and for all that 24th century computers are advanced enough to form intelligence of their own, given time and resources.

Soong's androids, on the other hand, are limitless. They are unique personalities shaped by their unique experiences. They learn, grow, and respond to the world like any living being. They were built to be their own people, and not chatbots that parrot out information and perform specific tasks. Data and Lore can be anything they want whenever they want. They may not be alive in the sense of living tissues and functioning organs, but they are living beings in a new sense. They have consciousness and true intelligence, not mere databanks and adaptable response programming.