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I am continually surprised that so many people separate biological systems from machines.

Because biological machines - living organisms - are much more like a wave. Machines created by humans do not usually rely on constant chemical processes to maintain their functions. So, machines are more like an appendage on humans.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "like a wave." Are you referring to the fact that almost everything in biology falls into a normal distribution, whereas we currently produce each version of our machines in discrete increments (clonally)?

Any machines that stand a chance of being a threat to humanity will rely on the same sorts of chemical processes that biological machines currently do.

Where do you place viruses and obligate parasites on the machine-life spectrum?

Why are you surprised? People use the word 'machines' alone to refer to artificial machines and 'biological systems' to refer to natural machines. They're all machines but the distinction is usually crucial.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com