Polymorph any object and souls

[dspeyer]

I realize PaO is notorious cheese, but are there any rulings on what sort of people you can create with it?

Turning a marionette into a human is an example usage. Does the human emerge with a complete mind and soul? Does he die at the end of his 3 hours? Is it murder?

Does he have general knowledge? Useful skills? Class levels? Can you PaO a pebble into a person who is loyal to you?

Can you create a specific person? Yourself? Multiply this way and swarm the world?

[Crafty Cultist]

I think a human created from an inanimate object would keep its original mental abilities. in other words, become comatose.

For evil characters, using polymorph any object and mindrape they could create replicas of themselves

[Xefas]

I think a human created from an inanimate object would keep its original mental abilities. in other words, become comatose.

That would be a houserule, considering:

Unlike polymorph, polymorph any object does grant the creature the Intelligence score of its new form. If the original form didn’t have a Wisdom or Charisma score, it gains those scores as appropriate for the new form.

Does he die at the end of his 3 hours? Is it murder?

On the subject of morality, I don't think an artificial human's lifespan running out counts as murder any more than a mother becomes a murderer for their child dying of old age.

[Talakeal]

This raises some deep philosophical issues, beyond the scope of what the rule book will tell you. Such details are best left up to the player and the DM, depending on what sort of story they want to tell.
There are numerous sci fi stories about the ramifications of creating an artificial being or giving an animal / computer self awareness which you could use for reference. Even classic fairy tales such as Pinocchio could serve as inspiration.

[Starbuck_II]

Turning a marionette into a human is an example usage. Does the human emerge with a complete mind and soul? Does he die at the end of his 3 hours? Is it murder?

Yes, each person you creates has its own dreams and wishes. And yes, they die in 3 hours.
Unless you turn a flower pot into a whale: then its thinks: "not again"

[holywhippet]

Could you use this spell to turn an undead back into a human (or whatever) - bypassing the whole willingness to be raised issue? Looking at the modifiers:

Same kingdom (animal, vegetable, mineral) +5
Same class (mammals, fungi, metals, etc.) +2
Same size +2
Related (twig is to tree, wolf fur is to wolf, etc.) +2
Same or lower Intelligence +2

The last three can be considered fulfilled, except maybe related and spectral undead. Class is hard to argue unless you consider humanoid to be a class. I'm no sure about kingdom though - undead aren't exactly animals but they are closer to them than minerals and vegetables.