Editing Associated intelligence

{{Status|Canon}}

'''Associated intelligence''' is the term used by the [[Covenant]] to describe a type of [[artificial intelligence]].<ref name="ch309">'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 309''</ref> Specifically, it has been defined as a system where enough "intelligent circuits" are linked together to form a high-order AI the Covenant refer to as a "thinking machine",<ref name="ch188">'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''pages 188-189''</ref> similar to humanity's [[smart AI]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|ch309}}

According to their mythology, an associated intelligence once betrayed the [[Forerunner]]s, and thus the Covenant maintained a strict ban on "intelligence association" under [[Death penalty|penalty of death]].{{Ref/Reuse|ch188}} The ban was put in place by the [[San'Shyuum]] after learning parts of the tale of [[Mendicant Bias]]—a Forerunner [[ancilla]] who was persuaded into [[rampancy]] by the [[Gravemind]], betrayed the Forerunners, and allied itself with the [[Flood]] in the belief that its makers were "hindering" the evolution of the galaxy. The Covenant's ban may have stemmed from a desire to prevent such a thing happening again.{{Ref/Reuse|ch188}}

Despite their ban on associated intelligences, the Covenant were known to use less sophisticated, non-[[sentience|sentient]] AI constructs to perform certain designated tasks such as piloting their ships.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''', ''[[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminal 3]]''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''', ''page 200''</ref> Following the [[Human-Covenant War|fall]] of the Covenant, the [[Swords of Sanghelios]] and [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction|Covenant]] utilized "semi-feral" associated intelligences to operate {{Pattern|Upisa'weri|Shrike}} turrets. As these constructs had been long abandoned, they could not communicate with modern [[Sangheili]] and had to be carefully monitored and locked down prior to activation due to their inability to understand contemporary [[Identification friend or foe|IFF]] systems and codeword usage.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/weapons/shrike-turret '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Shrike Turret'']</ref>

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