What's the difference between a Machine Spirit and a Aberrant

Lost Knowledge. They dont know any better. Actually some probably do but they are so secretive they wont admit it.

>>54797975
Machine Spirit has a different definition for every author. In the eyes of some, even a lasgun holds a Machine Spirit, making the Adeptus Mechanicus look pretty animist in their beliefs. In another, the Machine Spirit is represented by programming of any sort; if a machine can be programmed, it possesses a Machine Spirit. Finally, you've got the final case which makes pretty much no distinction between Machine Spirits and AI.

I guess the distinction is that abominable intelligence is unshackled, self-aware and/or malevolent towards humanity.

>>54797975
Machine Spirits are more like Artificial Instinct than pure Artificial Intelligence, usually backed by some organic frame. They have enough autonomy to follow orders an even act within some parameters, sometimes without direct human control. But your Land Raider won't ask itself what's the meaning of life or if he should just kill all humans. They are like dogs. Vicious, loyal, violent and everything between.

As I understand, the level of intelligence is important. Most of the automata of the Mechanicum have more the level of intelligence, and patterns of thinking, of dogs or other beasts. Loyal, ferocious, but without direction prone to mistakes or action of little tactical importance. Even then though, the Mechanicus of 40k take extra steps, such as minding and direction the thinking of their robots by Datasmiths. In the case of larger machines, like Starships, servitors with organic components tend to fill this sort of role. Abominable Intelligence as the Imperium understands refers to an artificial intelligence that can match or best the capabilities of the human mind, that does not conform to STCs, and is in not directly controlled by man.

It is all rather subjective twoddle though with the definition of heresy governed by a corrupt and hypocritical priesthood. And where did my life go?

Machine Spirits appear to use actual organic tissue and aren't very smart, as you'd expect from a bunch of random nerve cells in a jar. They can be coddled into doing things for you like an angsty dog, and aren't super far removed from human thought. Abominable Intelligence/Silica Animus is all digital and so alien from human thought that the only sane response is mutual extermination, like any other xenos.

It's the difference between having a child with Down's Syndrome run an errand for you and trying to do the same thing with Skynet.

>>54797975
A machine spirit is a soul.
AI has no soul.

>>54798086
This is the most logical conclusion one can draw from what we know from the lore, coupled with the fact that we see machine spirit creation coupled to lobotomized brains (or the likes of it) being used in the creation there of.

It all depends on the boundaries implemented on the program in question and what it is and is not allowed to do. Hence the tabletop rules were these rules sometimes get broken and the machines turn upon their masters.

Another nice little tidbit stems from the last HH book and the Space Wolves basically engaging a remaining AI leftover which actively hunted down humans and attempted to increase its power and control of the planet in question.

>>54798085
In my head cannon the entire "lasguns and bolters have machine spirits" is just a fable propagated by the machine cult to get the grunts to properly look after their gear. Higher ups would definitely know this is bullshit. Same stuff for regulations on armored vehicles for the guard and custom modifications.

>>54797975
>Aberrant Intelligence
HERETEK DETECTED!

All devoted servants of the Omnisiah know the term is Abominable Intelligence!

Machine Spirits have will, but they can't really make decisions - the closest you'll get is to stop working or to carry on doing what it was doing (like the land raider that killed orks after the crew died) - they're not any more intelligent than beasts or calculators. The very few machines with a more powerful will, like Titans and certain cybernetica, are handled very carefully.

Also, what >>54798313 says ties into Imperial dogma, which the Machine Cult is technically a branch of (via basically welding the faiths together) - if it thinks and it isn't human, it needs to be destroyed

>>54798394
>>54798085
Depends how much targeting gubbins is in a bolter or lasgun, but overall I agree - it gets the grunts doing what they need to do, regardless of the truth

If you wanna go RT/2nd Edition lore, it's the ability to be influenced through the warp via the mind. Machine spirits can not be lured by the ruinous powers and have to be manually desecrated to be turned. An AI has enough free will to fall.

>>54798677
>Machine spirits can not be lured by the ruinous powers and have to be manually desecrated to be turned.

That's because in RT, machine spirits were just implied to be AI except that the knowledge behind them has been lost, so Techpriests worship them as beings

Over time, subtlety has been lost and machine spirits were flanderized to be actually things, not just things that weren't understood anymore

>>54797975
In one book the heroes encounter a pissed AI(its crew are murdered by superstitious Imperium dwellers, rightly so) that rants at them about how tech priests are retarded and how machine spirits do not exist...but at the same time said AI, does not seem to get that the warp can literally make beleif reality.

>>54797975

Its a somewhat complex subject but from my understanding EVERY machine of STC design is meant to contain a machine spirit. Your lasgun not working? You must have offended its machine spirit, be careful to show it more respect next time (ie perform the highly ritualised and sanctioned maintenance drills to keep it in working order).
I believe due to the ad mech's fundamental lack of understanding, any machine with any kind of 'thinking' capacity (be that from an artificial or organic source) is also conflated with this animist idea of a machine spirit. In the eyes of the ad mech if the machine is more complex (more computing power) it will likewise have a more complex spirit, therefore able to interact with the user on a more direct level and require a greater degree of 'respect' (maintenance) to keep it happy.

This reasoning also explains why innovation and modification is so frowned upon. Why would you risk offending a machine spirit that we know works for us by trying to make it 'better'? STCs are perfect, ancient relics and should not be altered. Therefore all xenos tech is fundamentally heretical as it is not derived from an STC and does not have a 'proper' machine spirit.

I think their dislike for free thinking AI is mainly a millennia old holdover from when the men of iron nearly wiped out humanity. Though the ad mech don't remember this war, the extreme paranoia about strong AI has persisted ever since.

An AI is a brain, a machine spirit is a soul.