As engaging and interesting as the story was, I couldn't find any logic to the premise that had Commander Data (Brent Spiner) consider that the exocomps might have been some sort of life form. In defense of his position, Data referred to Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) successful argument in defending him as a sentient being in the second season episode "The Measure of a Man". I didn't fully accept the resolution of that story either. At stake was the status of Dr. Farallon's (Ellen Bry) learning machine, which in one instance burned out its own circuits to avoid complete destruction in a plasma conduit which exploded before it could be shut down. When the exocomp later repaired itself, it led Data to believe that the unit had to be treated as a living being, reaching a stunning conclusion that he wouldn't send one to its 'death' in a situation that threatened the life of the Captain and Commander LaForge (LeVar Burton). His position was further strengthened by the fact that an exocomp 'saw through' a simulation designed to threaten it with destruction, and went ahead and repaired the damage that could have been 'life threatening'. Although this episode aired over three decades ago, I was somewhat surprised that the term 'artificial intelligence' was never mentioned in connection with the learning intelligence of the exocomps. Perhaps the term was not in vogue back then, even as ubiquitous as AI seems to be now. After the danger passed and Picard and Geordi were returned to the Enterprise, Data offered an apology to the Captain for his strict interpretation of what a life form was, and to my surprise, the Captain responded - "It was the most human decision you've ever made". He wouldn't have been able to if the work around without the exocomps had not been successful.
Review of The Quality of Life
