system
A chat on subreddit /r/pcmasterrace
human
electronics run generally on grey smoke. if the grey smoke disappears (gets out of components), they are usually broken. so conclusion: electronics work with grey smoke, and it has to be kept inside.

this is result of personal observation, and should be taken with a grain of salt :)

Edit: typos
gpt
Confirmed industrial electric motors run on this same grey smoke.  You let the smoke out, and it stops working.