Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-24.149.127.9-20150901125029/@comment-28235247-20160805225409

Automatons aren't sentient, making some dialogue choices impossible.

There are always automatons in the ruins because either (lorewise) the holes that dwarven spheres come out of lead to factories in the walls where they're rebuilt; or the dwemer magic (mentioned by the mage in Skywatch I think in eso next to the centurion on display) in the ruins restores them.