Star Trek: Picard season 3 gave Data (Brent Spiner) a more human-like body, but the beloved android was already human in the ways that really count. Introduced in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data was an android with pale skin, yellow eyes, and a heart of gold who wanted nothing more than to be human. Created by Dr. Noonian Soong (Brent Spiner), Data was a remarkable achievement. As the first android in Starfleet, he faced criticism and prejudice, but his obvious humanity won over naysayers in the end. No one could spend time with Data and not recognize his kindness and intelligence.
Over the seven seasons of The Next Generation, Data's compassion, sense of wonder, and overall goodness made him a shining example of all that humanity has to offer. Data did not experience emotions the same way most humans do, but he clearly had feelings and cared deeply about the people around him. Now that Star Trek: Picard season 3 has given Data a fully synthetic body and upgraded emotions, he is as physically close to a human as he could possibly be. But Data was already the best kind of human long before his synthetic upgrade.
Data Was Already The Best Kind Of Human Before Picard Season 3 
When Dr. Noonian Soong set out to create a human-like android, he had no idea how successful one of his creations would turn out to be. Not only was Data Dr. Soong's crowning achievement, he was also an interesting and complex person in his own right. There may have been times over the course of Star Trek: The Next Generation when Data's positronic nature was more apparent, but his human moments far outweigh his inhuman ones. He went out of his way to help people and always sought to be the best Starfleet officer he could possibly be. While Data's Picard season 3 upgrade was a wonderful next chapter in Data's story, he was human long before that.
