They are not confident an artificial life-form can be a commanding officer.
Understand that our level of technology is far behind yours in a number of areas, particularly with regards to artificial life-forms.
The enemies range from hostile vessels to alien or artificial life-forms such as bionts.
This is quite unusual, since androids have been replaced for many years by artificial life-forms known as Realians.
Practices such as gene manipulation cloning the creation of artificial life-forms.
Think of it, Picard: a sentient life-form more artificial than organic.
He liked the colors; they reminded him of a child's paint box, the semianimated kind, an artificial life-form.
Nor was it any the less poignant for the fact that Data was an artificial life-form.
And since it's essentially an artificial life-form, it has an instinct for survival.
Data was accustomed to the reaction of humanoids when they discovered he was an artificial life-form.