To be more specific, the machine Minds rule the Culture civilisation and the humanoids are effectively mere pampered pets.

(Several characters in the novels comment on this, so it is entirely cannon.)

The Culture fought a war against the Idirans, who eschew the use of intelligent machines. The Idirans lost.

Similarly, the Gzilt civilisation in the novel The Hydrogen Sonata prefer to run their ships with a quorum of uploaded humanoid mind states running at highly accelerated speeds.

If I take my parents on trips, buy them nice things, visit often and generally make sure they are happy and fulfilled, are they my pampered pets?