Are the robots we create alive?
If we use negentropy to define life, by definition, if it fulfils negentropy, it is organic. (according to Google's dictionary anyways, Merriam Webster suggests some other definitions, but I think they would come to the same thing)
So though I don't don't necessarily accept the negentropy criteria as a satisfactory definition, but for the time being, I'll work with it.
As regards the last two points, remember, I never saw the movie.
Could you explain how the machines being on their own is significant?
What I'm saying is that you can't arrange a bunch of rocks in such a way that they are sentient. Movies can be made where vegetables can talk, but that doesn't mean it can really happen.
We know extremely little about how consciousness physically works. While it is intuitively hard to believe, it is possible that any sufficiently intelligent system could be conscious, even if it is made of rocks (or tennis balls).
I see no reason why plants couldn't eventually develop some form of communication if their environment required it.
