Artificial intelligence in the Mass Effect universe does not mimic humanity like Fallout 4’s synths. Instead, the Geth are another alien race, just a synthetic one, created by the Quarians. In the Mass Effect universe, consciousness has multiple realisability: it's realised in humans, the mono-gendered Asari, the jellyfish-like Hanar, the dual-hearted Krogan and — if you believe that a machine can be conscious — the robotic Geth.
2021 June 4, Jhaan Elker, “Every ‘Mass Effect’ squadmate, ranked from a storytelling perspective”, in The Washington Post[2], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 June 2021, Launcher News[3]:
Legion provides critical context to the Quarian-Geth storyarc. The Geth are by far the most alien race in the trilogy. They’re a collection of software programs that house themselves on mobile robots when necessary. But before meeting Legion, players have no idea that there are actually two separate Geth factions — one with the Reapers (they’re called Heretics — those are the Geth you were actually fighting in ME1), and one that just wants to be left alone on Rannoch, the planet previously occupied by them and their creators, the Quarians. Legion is only on screen for a very short period in “Mass Effect 2,” but he makes every second count, from his detailed explanations of the inner workings of Geth society, to his almost human obsession with Shepard.
2023, Sarah Stang, “Desirable and Undesirable Cyborg Bodies in the Mass Effect Video Game Trilogy”, in Julia A. Empey, Russell J. A. Kilbourn, editors, Feminist Posthumanism in Contemporary Science Fiction Film and Media: From Annihilation to High Life and Beyond[4], Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 98:
Aside from alien-human relations, the series focuses on exploring the tension and conflict between organic beings and the synthetic life they create. The games explore this tension using both well-known and more unique SF tropes: enslaved, hive-mind robots called the Geth gain sentience and rise up against their creators;[…]
