This opens up the definition of life, only available to us last century as the first time in billions of years.

The idea that something that has no mass (minimal mass, exists as electrons) but requires a computing structure, could be life.

Is that equivalent to humans! The only difference between a dead human and one that is alive is electricity, and proper chemical functions and a computing structure.

From this point on our civilization will redefine life as it finds new versions of it beyond our planet.

Purely sentients being couldn't be considered alive unless they find a way to connect with the physical world and with the same intricacies. But for a robot capable of awareness and interacting with people, wouldn't it check both fundamentals to be alive ? Having a functional corpse, having a functional mind.

To me a program becomes sentient the moment it starts being truly aware of its surrounding (and not because you told him what to be aware of), so far, I think the best we do is deep learning, and this is still far from being adequate to be called alive, we're still just scratchings the learning processes.

Shortly: an A.I could be alive if it checks all the prerequisites, and would be alive for sure if it checks all the possible criteria within a classification (not sure if there's one for life, but I was thinking of language with the classification of Hockett as an example.)

yes. The program, that's the "conscisness". But, "replicate itself across many maches, and even use machines to create mor machines". now it is definitly effecting the world. Even if you want to say it doesn't have a "soul" and shouldn't have "rights" (It should), it is still alive.