funky station

Good day to you all, silicon and non-silicon players alike! This question is probably more for lore reasons than anything else, but as a silicon enjoyer myself I want to know if our little metal friends (and big metal caretakers) are in fact people. If the answer is "its up
to player interpretation!" Then these questions are for the people who play them as sapient beings.

Are they intelligent, self-aware and most importantly, conscious?

Do people working towards borg freedom have a valid point?

And if borgs are indeed a sapient lifeform, is it allowed in game (and in discord) to refer to their situation as slavery?