Reflections on Data: What makes a person human?

What is the measure of a man? What is the definition of person? Is ‘personhood’ confined to organic human beings? These questions are explored in the Star Trek episode "The Measure of a Man," which presents the viewer with the controversy over the supposed humanity of the android ‘Data’, a member of Star Fleet and a worker on Captain Picard’s ship. Data, an incredibly advanced piece of artificial intelligence with a ‘positronic’ brain, who looks and acts like a human but who, being a relatively young robot, has not learned all the subtle nuances of the human condition, is seen as a respected colleague and lovable friend to the crew on Picard’s ship. Yet, when a robotics engineer comes to ask Data to be a part of a dangerous experiment that may result in irreversible damage to his system and Data refuses to be subjected to this risk, the engineer tells him that he is the property of Star Fleet and must do as he is told. Greatly upset by this mistreatment, Picard demands a trail be held in the case for Data’s rights as a person. In the end, Picard is able to prove that Data is a sentient, self-aware, conscious being worthy of rights and respect. This raises very important and relevant questions about AI research and humanity in general. Is personhood belonging to only flesh-and-blood humans or can it be applied to some robots? Are all organic humans people? How much artificiality can be a part of a human before he/she is no longer human? Indeed, all of these questions lead to one key inquiry: How is personhood defined?
This question has been debated for centuries and originated long before the advent of AI. Indeed, taking personhood away from human beings made it easier, in the past, to make people slaves. Once a human became no longer human but property, he/she was much easier to mistreat and exploit. The question of personhood is critical to explore, then, especially with the ongoing developments in AI research. Since there is no concrete definition of personhood in existence because it can change from person to person and society to society, one can only put forth his/her own beliefs on what makes something a person. In my opinion, what separates a person from any other thing is the concept of ‘the soul’. The soul by no means needs to be a religious concept (though it can be); here I am using the term loosely, meaning the "I," that certain spirit, that je ne sais quoi that resides in each person. The soul uses both mind and body to experience the world, and both are important to the soul (although the type of the mind or body is irrelevant to the personhood). Since there is no Soul-O-Meter to tell a person when something has a soul or does not have one, one must rely on the tell-tale signs of a soul.
When Captain Picard was explaining why Data was a person, he was describing some of the signs of the soul. One sign is definitely self-awareness. If a thing is aware of itself and can not only process information but think and reflect on those bits of information, or if this thing has or had the capability to think/reflect on anything, this thing is a person. The other sign is sentience. If a thing has/had the ability to become emotional about anything at all, this thing is a person. Indeed, even if a thing has these qualities only some of the time, that thing must be considered a person with rights. If not, someone could make a terrible mistake and treat a person with a soul as just a thing, a piece of property. This definition of personhood may seem broad and precautionary, yet I think it is the only way to guarantee rights to every person with a soul. According to my own definitions, then, Data is indeed a person with a soul and thus with rights, so I think the Star Fleet court made the right decision in allowing him the right to chose his fate.