Imagine a human-made object that can assemble identical copies of itself, process energy, and adjust its internal environment to external changes. Is this hypothetical object an example of life?

The human-made object might not necessarily be an example of life. This is because it might be carrying some of the properties of life but not all the seven life processes.

The seven life processes are:

Growth, movement, reproduction, sensitivity, nutrition, excretion, respiration

These seven life processes are necessary to distinguish a living thing from a non-living thing. All living things tend to carry out seven life processes.

Hence, based on the seven life processes which are necessary for a living organism we can say that the object might not be a living thing if it is not carrying out all the life processes.