Imperial suspicion of automation begins with the rebellion of artificial intelligences, especially the Men of Iron, at the end of an earlier technological age. Humanity subsequently becomes wary of systems that can think and act independently. Knowledge also continues to disappear after the Horus Heresy, making sophisticated machinery harder to reproduce or adapt. The result is a deliberate setting paradox: weapons can strike across a solar system while labour gangs physically haul their mechanisms into position.
Notable Point · 1:00:02-1:01:53
The Men of Iron explain a high-tech, low-automation fleet
Fear of autonomous technology and the loss of technical knowledge explain why advanced weapons coexist with manual handling.