How "sentient" are the Titan Watchers?

What I mean by that is, they're essentially living programmed machines, right? And like programmed machines, they exist to serve the will of the titans. We see this very clearly in titan constructs like the Earthen in The War Within, many of whom even have very robotic speech patterns and are very invested in their "Edicts"

But... They also seem very capable of developing personalities, and find meaning beyond their programming. In the case of these earthen, this appears to be the result of a malfunction that seems to have happened in Khaz Algar that allowed them to stray. For the rest of us Titan-descended races, it seems to be because of the Curse of Flesh.

But then, it also seems to affects Titan Watchers who should be unaffected by either. Take Thorim in Ulduar, for instance. He speaks of "his beloved" Sif. So, evidently Titan Watchers are able to experience love? To what extent and to what purpose?

Or, is Thorim simply programmed to have a loved one, an assigned role by his Titan creators? If so, for what reason would they do such a thing?

And why is it that some Titan Watchers speak as if they're mindless robots, while ones like Thorim can seemingly experience affection? And look at Odyn. He seems very petty and arrogant, which seems very unlike a mindless automaton.

It seems to me very unclear if Titan Watchers are supposed to be more than the sum of their parts. Sometimes they seem very robotic, and other times they seem entirely human, with all the flaws, emotions and personality that would accompany that