Mental immunity in Automatons

[Allonon23]

So my friend pointed out that automaton's have some semblance of intelligence, and therefore have a "mind". My question is this. What does the hero system determine a mind to be and why are automaton's considered to have no mind, yet computers and A.I. do have a mind? I would argue that the "mind" is something that controls thought. My friend wasn't particularly clear on what they thought a "mind" was exactly.

[Simon]

Moving this to a discussion forum as it’s not really a rules question.

[Derek Hiemforth]

I think I have to question the premise that automatons have some semblance of intelligence (with a lower-case "i") and therefore have a mind.  They have an INT Characteristic (upper-case "I") and therefore have some way to measure how sophisticated they are in terms of how many commands they accept.  A regular computer, likewise, has an INT, but no "mind."  They have built in programs, or they can be operated, but can't "think" in any meaningful way.

 

Only if they have EGO (i.e., only if they are an A.I.) can they think for themselves and really be said to have a "mind."  Since the effect of Mental Powers is measured against EGO, they may not work on automatons/machines that don't have EGO.  If they do, the GM will substitute INT for EGO as needed, but even in this case, I don't think that really implies that the automaton or computer has a "mind" per se. The game is just using the machine's complexity as a "stand-in" for a mind.