The hardware and software would not necessarily be as distinct as it is in our technology. Alien technology might more closely resemble that of organic life, wh

The hardware and software would not necessarily be as distinct as it is in our technology. Alien technology might more closely resemble that of organic life, where the decision making processes are built into the physical structure of the system. Conceivably, these systems could also be designing through an evolutionary-like process, instead of the human engineering process.