Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. An injured Borg drone (Jonathan Del Arco) is found amid a crashed scout ship.

As they restore him to health, the crew must decide whether or not to develop him as a weapon of mass destruction against the Borg; when he demonstrates free will, choosing the name Hugh, they must question that decision.

Del Arco was deliberately antisocial prior to his audition to get into the role but also sought to use the innocence and wonderment generated by a friend's death as Hugh's voice.

The episode received Nielsen ratings of 12.8 percent and critics were positive with praise directed at both Del Arco and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as the general nature of the plot.

Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) insists on treating the surviving Borg despite the concerns of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

Crusher and La Forge arrange to have Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), who has a similar loathing for the Borg because they destroyed her homeworld, speak to Hugh.

Following the Borg-based two-part episode "The Best of Both Worlds", the production team were having difficulty in introducing the Borg to the series due to their unstoppable nature.

[1] The story idea for "I, Borg" was well received by the production staff, with executive producer Rick Berman saying that he "fell in love" with the characterisations of Guinan,[2] Picard, La Forge and Hugh which resulted in a series of two character scenes in the episode.

Story editor René Echevarria wrote the script, with an uncredited assist from executive producer Jeri Taylor.

[2] Michael Piller, who wrote "The Best of Both Worlds", described "I, Borg" as having a "great premise which forces Guinan and Picard to face their own prejudices".

They instead opted for a hologram and a series of LEDs that were powered by a battery pack built into the costume and mounted on the actor's back.

When he performed for the producers, someone else read the lines assigned to Picard and La Forge, and he felt like he immediately got a positive result.

[8] When broadcast it was the seventh most watched episode of the season, behind both parts of "Unification", "A Matter of Time", "Power Play", "Cause and Effect" and "The Game".

[8] Keith DeCandido in his review for Tor.com gave the episode a score of 8 out of 10, and described Goldberg's appearance as "particularly good",[3] while Del Arco was said to be "spectacular" in his "subtle, powerful performance".

James Van Hise, in his book The Complete Trek: The Next Generation, said that the episode "enriched the creative tapestry of the series" and gave the writers a number of possibilities for following it up.

"[17] Forbes noted this episode as exploring the implications of advanced technology, showing how an isolated Borg alien must learn how to be an individual.

[26] In summer 2019, it was announced that Del Arco would reprise his role as Hugh in the television show Star Trek: Picard,[27][28] going on to appear in three episodes during season 1 of that series.