Sentience (Earth-2356)

Sentience is the ability of a species to think intelligently. Sentient species of the galaxy number in the tens of thousands, with 3PO units being programmed to recognize more than 30,000 of them. Some such species include Humans, the Ewoks, the Patitites, the Gungans, and the Yanme'e. Non-sentient organics of the animal kingdom are variously referred to as "creatures" or "beasts." There also existed creatures that appeared to have emerging sentience, such as the Gorog.

Under the laws of the Galactic Republic, sentient beings could not be used as slaves. However, slavery thrived on certain remote planets such as Tatooine, Ame, and Malastare, and is considered a profitable trade among the Zygerrians. Most droids are afforded programming that did not allow them to harm organic sentient beings, with notable exceptions such as police droids and battle droids.

Source

 * https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sentience.