I like the idea of progressing the current personalization system that got added in 2010. Some of the posts here are making me think of ways that can be evolutionary additions to systems already in place rather than an entire rewrite of dwarven behaviour to create self-aware AI dwarves. I'm a programmer by profession, so I already have the mindset of using and reusing systems that are already in place rather than reinventing the wheel. I'm gonna repeat some of the ideas already in the thread, but with my thoughts on them.
We now have some pretty darned detailed descriptions of what your dwarves are like, their likes and dislikes, what kind of physical shape they are in and their social relationships. This certainly is a step towards more dwarven autonomy in terms of the kinds of jobs they do and how hard they work.
If you have a sturdy, strong dwarf who really likes stone but has little imagination and has difficulty with personal relationships, mining might be his preference. He gets better at mining, gets to be bigger and stronger and spends days at a time down dark lonely tunnels alone pondering his stone-based philosophy. A dwarf who is not tough, but has a great imagination and loves a certain kind of metal may become a metalcrafter and prefer to pick that kind of metal to build his crafts. A lazy dwarf might not pick any job in particular, instead spending time loafing around and mooching off his fellow dwarves. (Which ultimately will work against him.) We already know a lot of this from the existing personality traits!
There is already a system that counts each dwarf's relationships, if there were feedback into that based on how productive another dwarf is, then you have the ability for other dwarves to get pissed off at the loafers and perhaps harangue him into actually doing some more work, or cut him off from the booze they are so industriously making. Whereas a Legendary Miner may gain respect of other dwarves for his industrious hard work and dedication to the fort and a Legendary Weaponmaker would be the go-to guy for dwarves assigned to your military and looking for gear. The better your dwarves think of each other, when the economy starts, the better "deals" they will get for goods from friends of theirs. We're re-using the relationships data!
Urist McClothier really respects the work Urist McMiner has done. When Urist McClothier talks to his best friend, Urist McChef, Urist McChef also gains respect for Urist McMiner and offers him an extra slice of dwarven bread next time he comes by to get lunch. Expand the social network!
The idea of training is already present with the military system. A Legendary dwarf may pick a new migrant or child as an apprentice, which would give him a leg up on skilling up his own skills. The more craftsdwarves who hang out together the better quality their work can turn out to be, where they can teach each other tricks of the trade. We're re-using the military training stuff!
The "rusty skill" system is already present. It's no stretch to imagine dwarves ignoring skills as they rust away in favor of higher level skills. Effectively allowing them to specialize themselves. This is practically already implemented!
What about Urist McMoocher? You're drafted, sucker. Have fun with R. Urist McErmy screaming in your face you lazy bum. But guess what, he becomes a productive and useful member of the community now.
But there's realistically no way a fort could totally run itself. (Well at least until Quantum Computers become more commonplace and Toady finally puts in the Uncertainty code that causes the dwarves to become self-aware.) Something like the job manager system already present in the game, only for professions would be an effective way of managing it I think. Like an employment section of the local news
paperengravings. If you need mechanics, you would create a "mechanic needed" want ad and a dwarf with the right personality and skillset for mechanics would step up for the position. Once you've approved a qualified mechanic, he would be able to go off and build his own workshop. In a "workshop-zoned burrow" for example. Look, now we can reuse the "burrows" mechanic!
The job manager is already in place. You need traps? Ask for some traps to be made. Your new mechanic steps up and makes traps. You don't need traps? Maybe your mechanic spends time in his workshop practicing. He can use up some of that extra stone honing his skills in between orders. If he's lazy, he doesn't practice and the next time you put an order in, maybe some other dwarf who
has been honing his mechanics skills gets the job instead. Or at least fills most of the order and gets more Dwarfbucks out of it and a better chance of getting the next order.
You would still be managing things like what areas got built out, where to build traps, wall placement, the overall management of the fort. But a lot of the smaller micromanagement, basically the
exact reasons Dwarf Therapist exists at all, go away.
edit: And that's a lot of words. You're welcome, NW_Kohaku.