In 40k, they subvert this danger by starting with human brains - a level of independent thought and autonomy that is well understood. This puts the theoretical maximum autonomy something we don't yet understand, and in the context of 40k, something dangerous. In our AI, the more work and augmentive design we put in, the more independently and autonomously the AI can function. It helps to think of imperial 'AI' as functioning the opposite way we understand 'AI' to work. This may be an opinion question, but how much independence do Skitarii have? Are they just glorified servitors? GW has gone on record as saying Skitarii are unique creations and they don't all behave the same or come from the same template. So every time the Skitarii would say 'That tactic won't work' he would instead say 'Yes sir.' He was as good as a servitor in this case. Then the Skitarii gets sent to another Techpriest, who overrides his personality. Occasionally the Techpriest would remote into him and take direct control, but that wasn't a lot of the time. He started off as a worker on a Forgeworld who tattooed himself with where he wanted to get cybernetics.Įventually he was assigned to a Techpriest who kept him on a longer leash than most Techpriests would. Weirdly one of my favorite examples of a Skitarii is from Skitarius whose main character had a history as well as some level of individuality. Then there are the Skitarii of Master of Mankind who are redirected by the Archimandrite without questioning why and disregarding their prior orders. Then there are the Skitarii that are in a Titan in Helsreach who all respond to questions in unison. He is kind of robotic, but has individuality.

For example, in Mechanicum there is a Skitarii that is pretty much what I imagine Skitarii are. I've been reading several Black Library books and I keep getting a sense that the difference between Skitarii and Servitors is not well known.

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