Brazilian scientist D. Larisa Suzuki is involved in a project that seems to have come out of a science fiction film script. Together with NASA and Google engineers, Suzuki is working on a type of “chatGPT” that could allow astronauts to communicate with spacecraft during space missions.

A Brazilian scientist is developing a project that allows astronauts to talk to ships. Photo: Reproduction/NASA/ND

“The idea is to get to the point where we will communicate with spacecraft and they will also respond to us about warnings and interesting discoveries that they see in the solar system and beyond,” said Larissa Suzuki in an interview with the American newspaper The. The keeper .

During a project meeting on June 20, Suzuki explained to other scientists that AI can even warn when something is wrong with the rover. This can be useful, for example, in the event of a mechanical failure.

In the fight against prejudice

Suzuki has autism and says she is a CTO at Google and also an engineer at NASA. Now she is also involved with the Engineers Gallery, which opened at the Science Museum in London in June.

The event focuses on technologies ranging from space satellites and surgical robots to digital fashion and aims to dispel misconceptions about what engineers do and who they are.

Larissa Suzuki is a Brazilian scientist who led the project. Photo: Reproduction/Graham Robertson/The Guardian/ND

Suzuki told The Guardian that working for NASA was a childhood dream come true.

“I have had a wish list since I was 12. It contains about 500 items. One of them was working and collaborating with NASA,” he explains.

She describes how her passion for engineering helped her through her difficult school years.

“Every day I was bullied at school for being autistic and not having the same interests as other girls my age. Although I was isolated and faced bullying, my true and deep passion for creating things for the benefit of humanity is what kept me going,” he recalls. And continues:

“That’s what pushed me to admit that I’m not a weirdo, that’s who I am. It’s okay if not everyone wants to play with Barbie,” she said.

After briefly attending music college, she abandoned plans to become a professional pianist and switched to a computer science degree, where she said she was the only girl in a class of 40 boys.

“At first I never wondered why there are so few girls here,” she said.

However, she remembers being underestimated, including by a teacher who suggested she copied a classmate’s homework when it was the other way around.

“They asked me, ‘Where did you get these answers from?’ They thought that these boys who skipped classes and laughed in class did the job, and I didn’t, although I was so dedicated,” she said.

Suzuki says autism may have allowed him to go beyond engineering stereotypes.

“I wanted to do something and solve problems for humanity, and I thought I could do it with computer science. Since I’m autistic, I wanted to know all the steps to get there – and if step A fails, it’s step B and step C,” he says.

The scientist ends the interview by saying that we should encourage women to pursue a career in science. “Otherwise, who will be the Ada Lovelace of the future?”.