Ah yeah you’re right. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen the episode. However, if I remember correctly, the reason he was making the holodeck program was to simulate crew for interviews. At least he was trying to make them as realistic as possible for a genuinely noble reason. He just happened to do something mildly horrific to get it done.

I swear, my logs on any Starfleet ship would be something like “Nice day today. I had soup.” “Today I drew an art.” “If a woodchuck could chuck wood…”