Can machines or robots have instincts?
In terms of programming, most robots until today would have been largely hardcoded, and therefore had fixed patterns of behavior in response to stimuli, as per the above definition. Over and over, as far as robots are concerned, we see Anthropomorphism rear its head; when in fact, there is no good reason why robots should be anything like people. And in terms of human language, it is so malleable that if you bend a definition far enough it will fit; for instance, why are humans not robots? Perhaps therein lies the difference, robots are not yet capable of bending their definitions far enough to make them fit.
See also my recent Quora answer to: